A Jesuit order once sold 272 enslaved people in a single deal
Maryland's Jesuit province contracted to sell 272 enslaved people to Louisiana buyers in one of America's largest slave sales.
The transaction, arranged by the Maryland province of the Jesuits, sent hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children to buyers in Louisiana. It stands among the largest single slave sales recorded in American history.
Maryland itself is a Mid-Atlantic state bordering Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Atlantic Ocean. Covering 12,407 square miles, it is the ninth-smallest state by land area yet ranks among the most densely populated, with about 6.1 million residents.
The sale remains a stark chapter in the institution's past.
Why it mattersThe sale exposes how religious institutions profited from slavery, a legacy still being reckoned with today.
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