Will the United States ever pay reparations for its role in what amounts to domestic terrorism against African Americans? The truth is: The government has already paid reparations — to slave owners. According to the National Archives and Records Administration, The District of Columbia Emancipation Act paved the way to compensate slave owners for their “loyalty to the Union” and for the loss of income incurred by freeing slaves. On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Passage of this law came 8 1/2 months before President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. The act brought to a conclusion decades of agitation aimed at ending what antislavery advocates called “the national shame” of slavery in the nation’s capital. It provided for immediate emancipation, compensation to former owners who were loyal to the Union of up to $300 for each freed slave, voluntary colonization of former slaves to locations outside the United States, and payments of up to $100 for each person choosing emigration newsone/3012856/did-you-know-us-govt-paid-reparations-to-slave-owners/
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 01:21:09 +0000