This legislation was the Union government’s first official act to liberate enslaved people, freeing over 3,000 slaves in the nation’s capital. It became law just one year into the Civil War and before the 13th Amendment banned slavery across the country.
It was unique in that it monetarily compensated the slave owners and any former slaves who would emigrate. Although “Emancipation Day” as it is now known, is not a federal holiday, Washingtonians celebrate it. It is duly recognized as a critical moment in our nation’s history.
Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts sponsored the law. An outspoken abolitionist, Wilson vowed to “give all that I had to the cause of emancipation.” When the Compensated Emancipation Act passed, there was applause from fellow senators. Wilson would later go on to become Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant.
The following year, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Although it didn’t end slavery immediately, it changed the Civil War. Approximately 200,000 black men served in the Union Army and Navy. While the war dragged on, the abolishment of slavery wouldn’t go into effect in areas under Confederate control. Finally, in 1865, the Union troops arrived in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas and announced that enslaved people were free. This day would be known as “Juneteenth” and become a federal holiday.