Emancipation Day Parade (2013)
April 16, 2013 Washington DC (Pennsylvania Ave. NW)
The District of Columbia celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. That act would free about 3,100 slaves nine months before Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, becoming the country's first freed from the institution of slavery.
Read MoreThe District of Columbia celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. That act would free about 3,100 slaves nine months before Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, becoming the country's first freed from the institution of slavery.