FACT #14
Abolitionists used the Constitutional interpretation of the federal government’s power over the district to end slavery in the national capital.  This interpretation of the Constitution continues to be a source of conflict today.

During the Civil War, Charles Sumner, the senior senator from Massachusetts, and a vocal abolitionist, asked President Lincoln: “Do you know who is at this moment the largest slaveholder in the United States?” Sumner informed Lincoln that he was the largest slaveholder because the President “holds all the slaves of the District of Columbia.” Sumner was referring to the fact that the federal government was empowered in the US Constitution to “exercise exclusive legislation” over the federal district. Though this interpretation of the federal government’s constitutional power continues to be a source of conflict, abolitionists used it as a way to end slavery in the national capital.

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

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