Emancipation Day and the Fight for Freedom

Thursday, April 16, 2015 marked the 153rd anniversary of the abolition of slavery in DC, otherwise known as Emancipation Day. In 1862 over 3,000 slaves were freed, just eight months prior to the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in the South. The District of Columbia also has the distinction of being the only locality in the United States to have paid slave owners for releasing the people they enslaved.

This in fact, was no easy feat; instead it was long and arduous. From the city’s early days, many groups and individuals signed anti-slavery petitions, openly criticized slave trading and wrote several news articles against slavery. During the early years of the Civil War African-Americans by the thousands stormed the Nation’s capital seeking solace from bondage. Under scrutiny and much pressure, with the assistance of Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, President Abraham Lincoln got the bill passed through Congress.

News of Lincoln’s action quickly spread throughout the city. The joy in  … click HERE to continue reading