Reverend Vespre Authorizes the Sale of the GU272
Prior to the 1836 sale of enslaved people, the Maryland Jesuits were sent a letter from Reverend Francis Vespre, a Jesuit leader from Rome, listing twenty conditions that would regulate the trade and its profits. This included conditions that would maintain the religious integrity of the enslaved people as the clergy wanted to ensure their dedication to Catholicism within an environment that nurtured their faith. Similarly, the document includes future actions and transactions that could be done after the sale, such as the reinvestment of profits made into a promising business. These conditions were violated several times.
The end of slavery at Georgetown was determined by the fact that enslavement was no longer profitable for the institution as well as the financial stresses of the time, as the university was on the brink of bankruptcy.[1] However, as the Maryland Jesuits were required to get approval from Jesuit leaders in Rome, the Jesuit clergy administered several rules that would guide this sale in order to ensure its efficiency and profitability.[2] This letter, written in Italian by Reverend Frances Vespre, outlines religious and familial conditions for the enslaved, alongside economic conditions that have to do with the profit generated by the sale. Though this letter attempts to salvage the future of the sold enslaved people. It implicitly suggests that enslavement was no longer a profitable institution, so the Jesuits were prompted to start a new and more economically profitable investment. While both commodifying and devaluing the humanity of enslaved people, the Maryland Jesuits chose to pursue their own advantages while compromising the fate of 272 lives.
The mere approval of the sale by the leaders of the Society of Jesus in Rome legitimized future actions taken by Georgetown. Because these rulings were seldom enforced, Georgetown Jesuits took liberties in the transaction. After the sale, the enslaved community had no access to a Priest nor a Catholic Church[3] and the revenue generated by the sale was used to settle Georgetown’s debt[4]- a direct contradiction to the conditions by Reverend Vespre. In transgressing these conditions, the Jesuits unconsciously reveal their true intentions behind the sale, as maintaining the Catholic faith and its values was not a priority but rather a written justification for the transaction. The intentions behind the sale were not religious nor ethical but an act of desperation because of the financial troubles of Georgetown which initiated the sale,[5] and so the primary aim of the sale was financial profit to decrease the likelihood of a liquidity crisis.[6]
This document emphasizes that the end of slavery at Georgetown was not a moral or ethical decision, but a process where the bodies of 272 people were leveraged and exploited for the purpose of profit.[7] It was a decision made for the convenience of the Jesuits, where the future, well-being, and fate of the GU272 was put at risk.
[1] Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza, Facing Georgetown’s History (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 26.
[2] Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza, “The Society of Jesus Sets Conditions on the Sale of the Maryland Slaves, 1836” in Facing Georgetown’s History (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 129.
[3] Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza, “A Jesuit Priest Reports on the Fate of the Ex-Jesuit Enslaved Community in Louisiana, 1848” in Facing Georgetown’s History (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 139.
[4] Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza, Facing Georgetown’s History (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021), 26.
[5] Ibid., 26.
[6] Ibid., 24.
[7] Ibid., 24.
Bibliogrphy
Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza. Facing Georgetown’s History. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021.
Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza. “The Society of Jesus Sets Conditions on the Sale of the Maryland Slaves, 1836.” In Facing Georgetown’s History, 129-130. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021.
Adam Rothman and Elsa Barraza Mendoza. “A Jesuit Priest Reports on the Fate of the Ex-Jesuit Enslaved Community in Louisiana, 1848.” In Facing Georgetown’s History, 139-140. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2021.