Black History:  Special Delivery!!

District of Columbia Emancipation Act – Page 1
District of Columbia Emancipation Act – Page 2

According to the National Archives and Records Administration, in 1862, President Lincoln paid reparations to 930 slaveowners covering 2,989 enslaved black people. The purpose of the payments was to secure the loyalty of DC slaveholders to the Union by compensating for their loss in income when President Lincoln ended slavery in Washington, DC.  Up to $300 in payments was paid to slaveholders for each slave.  A $300 payment in 1862 would be equivalent to $7,662 per enslaved person today.  In addition, voluntary colonization of the formerly enslaved to locations outside of the U.S.  was offered with payments of up to $100 each for those opting to emigrate outside of the U.S.  Continue reading “The District of Columbia Emancipation Act of 1862:  Reparations For Washington DC Slave Owners” →