The Society of Jesus owned six plantations in the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries which they relied on to support their ministries. The estates totaled 12,000 acres on four large properties in southern Prince Georges, Charles and St. Mary's counties and two smaller estates on Maryland's eastern shore. These estates were presented to them by the Lords Baltimore who were Catholic and used slaves to work them. The slaves were gifts to the Jesuits from wealthy Catholic familes to sustain the church.
The records of these plantations, Jesuit Plantation Project(JPP), form part of the archives of the Jesuits and have been converted to an electronic by students of American Studies department at Georgetown University. The archives contain personal papers like the diaries of Br. Mobberly who spent time on many of the plantations, Sale Contract of 272 Slaves in 1838, documents regarding plantation conditions, the welfare and religious needs of the slaves, resources and a JPP bibliography.
The sale of the slaves by the Jesuits had nothing to do with morals but was a decision based on economics. They feared the devaluation of their property, at a time in which the abolitionist movement was spreading. The economy was no longer driven by slave labor and the slaves were getting very costly to feed and clothed. They were also experiencing difficulty with governing the slaves and thought they could make more money by selling the slaves and employing tenant farmers.
My Butler family was among the 272 slaves sold downriver to Louisiana plantation owners. According to the JPP site, sixty-four negroes including the "Butler Breed" as they were designated on a Slave Transfer from St. Inagoes(sic) Plantation in St. Mary's County, were shipped to Louisiana on Ship #2.
Nace and Biby Butlers are my great-great-great grandparents.
The Jesuits specialize in public relations for the Roman Catholic Church. The Society of Jesus, founded by the military leader, Ignatius de Loyola, continues its Counter-Reformation mission using psychological warfare dissimulated through Georgetown and Fordham universities.
ReplyDeleteBy 1776, over 7,000 black slaves worked on farms and ranches owned by the Corporation of the Roman Catholic Clergymen, an arm of the Jesuits.
By the 1830s, many Southerners had shifted from, "Slavery is a necessary evil," to "Slavery is a positive good." These Southerners, along with the Jesuits exclaimed that the institution existed because it was "God’s will," a Christian duty to lift the African out of barbarism while still exerting control over his "animal passions."
To better understand the origination of African slavery and the introduction of slaves to Europe and the New World, one must study the history of Portugal, the Knights Templar and Prince Henry the Navigator.
Henry the Navigator, was the third son born to Philippa of Lancaster, the sister of King Henry IV of England.
Prince Henry the Navigator was an important figure in the early days of the southwest European Empire. He was responsible for the early development of European exploration, and African slave and maritime trade with other continents.
On 25 May 1420, Henry the Navigator gained appointment as the governor of the very rich "Military Order of Christ (Ordem Militar de Cristo)," previously the "Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ." The Military Order of Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312. It was founded in 1319. These Knights were international bankers and landlords, who eventually became slave traders.
Prince Henry's actions against native people who were not Christians were violent, and helped start a violent world trend. As Sir Peter Russell remarks in his biography, "In Henryspeak, conversion and enslavement were interchangeable terms." He saw his efforts almost as a continuation of the Crusades.
Prince Henry's explorations lead first to the discovery of a sea-route from Europe to Asia and shortly thereafter to the expansion of slavery to Europe and the New World. By 1444, the Portuguese had circumvented the Muslim land-based trade routes across the western Sahara Desert, and slaves and gold began arriving in Portugal. By 1452, the influx of gold permitted the minting of Portugal's first gold cruzado coins.
Prince Henry died in 1460, almost 30 years before the southern tip of Africa was discovered, but his exploits enabled the Europeans to find a sea-route to Asia, and ended Western Europe's dependence on the Muslims for trade. By 1462, the Portuguese had explored the coast of Africa as far as the present-day nation of Sierra Leone.
The Order of Prince Henry the Navigator is an international Order of Knighthood created on June 2, 1960 by Portugal.
Membership to the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator can be granted by the President of Portugal, or as a result of suggestions made by his Ministers, or following suggestion by the Council of the Order, known as the "Grand Collar."
The Grand Collars of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator includes: Kings and Queens, Presidents of countries, Jesuits and Knights of Malta.
In 1974, Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, who is a contender to become the next Pope, was named "Knight Commander" of the Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique (The Order of Prince Henry the Navigator).
Read the Blog: thegodpress.blogspot.com
My name is Brother David Johnson, and my family originated in Cold Pepper, Virginia, and many were Freeman and Prince Hall Masons here and abroad by the time of the American Revolution---an error that I now see this late in my life. My relatives do not realize that the Methodist minister Prince Hall was a sell out, and sold his soul to the Luciferic Order of Freemasonry that stemmed out of the Hellfire Club of England.
it's very difficult to read what's written at the very top of the home page but otherwise it's a wonderful resource!
ReplyDeleteDavid Johnson, many were/are deceived about freemasonry, the elect would be deceived, IF it were possible. I really enjoyed your imput on this page, thank you for taking the time to share
Hi -The NY Times ran an article on 16 April 2016 about the sale of slaves to help Georgetown Univ, reporting on related geneaology research being conducted to find out about the 272 slaves and their descendants in Louisiana and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThey are inviting people with known descent to contact them - See link: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/16/us/georgetown-university-descendants-of-slaves.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article
Congratulations on all your work. - Linda
Congrats! Should u run across anything about Alfred H Marshall or his wife Henrietta please let me know. They were parents of Ida Marshall Bennett one of GU272. I have info from Georgetown-seeking beyond that. May have worked at Woodstock Seminary. Thanks!
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