FACT #13
The Federal Government paid almost $1 million for the freedom of 3,100 enslaved people.

April 16, 1862, marks the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, nearly nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation liberated slaves in the South. The District also has the distinction of being the only part of the United States to have compensated slave owners for freeing enslaved persons they held.

The DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862, passed by the Congress and signed by President Abraham Lincoln ended slavery in Washington, DC, freed 3,100 individuals, reimbursed those who had legally owned them and offered the newly freed women and men money to emigrate. It is this legislation, and the courage and struggle of those who fought to make it a reality that we commemorate every April 16, DC Emancipation Day.

Source: https://emancipation.dc.gov/page/history-emancipation-day

LEARN MORE courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust.

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