Washington, D.C.'s "Contraband" Camps
On April 16, 1862, Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act, ending slavery in the District of Columbia and delivering long-awaited freedom to more than 3,000 men, women, and children.1 America’s capital city became a beacon of liberty for enslaved individuals in bordering slave states like Maryland and Virginia, many of whom ran away and crossed into the District to pursue their own li