160 years of Emancipation

Hailey Heseltine ECB Publishing, Inc.  Tuesday, May 20, marks the 160th anniversary of Florida Emancipation Day, when the Emancipation Proclamation was read aloud in Tallahassee, officially declaring all enslaved people in the state as legally free.   National Emancipation Day is celebrated on April 16, when Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act into law in 1862, thereby finally granting legal freedom to enslaved people in the District of Colombia and freeing thousands of people. This was one of the most important first steps that led to the nationwide abolishment of slavery. It is also the anniversary that most people nationwide likely think of as Emancipation D