Existing comment:
Before D.C. Emancipation:
Prior to the Civil War, there was a large free black population in the District, more than 9,000 in 1860. A black middle class of restaurateurs, seamstresses, barbers, government messengers, and shopkeepers mingled with whites during the daytime but retreated to mostly segregated neighborhoods at night. At the same time, nearly 2,000 enslaved servants and laborers were living in the District.
During his term in Congress between 1846 and 1848, Abraham Lincoln had been appalled by slave traders doing business even near the steps of the Capitol. The Compromise of 1850 had ended the sale of slaves within the District of Columbia, but long-held customs and municipal regulations called the "Black Codes" continued to restrict the lives of Washington's free and enslaved black residents.
One of the largest attempted escapes of slaves took place in Washington in 1848 when 76 men and women boarded the Pearl and sailed north into the night. The winds were not strong enough to carry them to freedom, and they were captured the next day. Many were sold into the Deep South as punishment. |