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Long title | An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia |
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Enacted by | the 37th United States Congress |
Effective | April 16, 1862 |
Citations | |
Public law | 37–50 |
Statutes at Large | 12 Stat. 376 |
Legislative history | |
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Major amendments | |
An Act Supplementary to the Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia, Pub. L. 37–127, 12 Stat. 538 |
An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia, 37th Cong., Sess. 2, ch. 54, 12 Stat. 376, known colloquially as the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act or simply Compensated Emancipation Act, was a law that ended slavery in the District of Columbia, while providing slave owners who remained loyal to the United States in the then-ongoing Civil War to petition for compensation. Although not written by him,[1] the act was signed by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1862. April 16 is now celebrated in the city as Emancipation Day.