Emancipation Day
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Emancipation Day is celebrated in various locations in observation generally of the emancipation of slaves.
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[edit] Caribbean and West Indies
Emancipation Day is widely celebrated throughout the English-speaking Caribbean or British West Indies on the first Monday in August.
In many Caribbean countries, carnivals take place during the first week of August, which includes Emancipation Day.
[edit] Trinidad and Tobago
Emancipation Day is a national holiday in Trinidad/Tobago which celebrates the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire on August 1, 1834. In 1985 Emancipation Day replaced Discovery Day among the holidays of Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago was the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
[edit] Bahamas
Emancipation Day is a national holiday in the Bahamas commemorating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire on August 1, 1834.
Emancipation Day is more commonly referred to in the Bahamas as August Monday as it is celebrated on the first Monday in August.
Celebrations are mainly concentrated in Fox Hill village, Nassau - a former slave village whose inhabitants, according to folklore, heard about their freedom a week after everyone else on the island.
[edit] Turks and Caicos Islands
Emancipation Day is a national holiday in the Turks and Caicos Islands similar to the Bahamas. (The Turks and Caicos Islands are located next to the Bahamas and share a similar culture and history.) It is celebrated on August 7.
[edit] United States
The municipality of Washington, D.C. celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 enslaved persons in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation telegraphing the eventual end of slavery to the rest of the nation. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the only example of compensation by the federal government to free enslaved persons.
On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District. Each year, a series of activities will be held during the public holiday including the traditional Emancipation Day parade celebrating the freedom of enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The Emancipation Day celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901, and was resumed under the leadership of Councilmember Vincent Orange as a tradition and historic celebration in 2002.
In 2007, the observance of this holiday in Washington DC had the effect of nationally extending the 2006 income tax filing deadline from the 16th to the 17th of April, a delay that will recur in April of 2011. This 2007 date change was not discovered until after many forms went to print. Cite: IR 2007-15 at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=167194,00.html.
In Texas, Emancipation Day is celebrated on June 19. It commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas on that day in 1865. It is commonly known as Juneteenth.
[edit] United Kingdom
Emancipation Day was also a celebration by motor car owners in Great Britain upon the repeal of the Red Flag Act, which required all motor vehicle owners to have a man walk in front of their vehicles carrying a warning in form of a red flag.
