District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act

District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act
Long title	An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia
Enacted by	the 37th United States Congress
Effective	April 16, 1862; 162 years ago
Citations
Public law	37–50
Statutes at Large	12 Stat. 376
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S. 108 by Henry Wilson (R‑MA) on December 16, 1861; Committee consideration by the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia; Passed the Senate on April 3, 1862 (29–14); Passed the House on April 11, 1862 (92–39); Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1862;
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.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 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.