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Senator Blanche K. Bruce 1841-1898
Senator Blanche K. Bruce was a former Virginian slave, who through ambition and drive advanced to become the first African American to preside of the US Senate.
Petition of Mildred E. Ewell, 5 May 1862
This is an example of one of the 966 petitions filled for compensation following the District of Columbia Emancipation Act, which offered $300 per slave to legal slave owners in the District.
These petitions have been transcribed by Civil War…
Camp Barker, DC 1862
Newly freed slaves from the south who sought refuge in Washington, DC
Slaves from Southern states came to Washington, DC to seek refuge from their southern slave holders. These persons were awaiting a visit from Abraham Lincoln at Camp Barker, located a mile north of of the White House in 1862.
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Video - The Compensated Emancipation Act Petitions
This is a short video created by the National Archives which provides information about the what we have been able to learn about the enslaved persons in Washington, DC.
Click here for VIDEO.
Celebration of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the colored people, in Washington. April 19, 1866
Large crowd of African Americans celebrating the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C.