million (roughly equivalent to £4,175,000,000 as a proportion of GDP in 2016 pounds) – of £3 million originally set aside by the British government – was paid out in compensation to 1,300 former slave holding farmers in the colony. December 1 is celebrated as Emancipation Day in South Africa most notably in the city of Cape Town. French West Indies This includes eight territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: Martinique commemorates emancipation with a national holiday on May 22, marking the slave resistance on that day in 1848 that forced Governor Claude Rostoland to issue a decree abolishing slavery. Guadeloupe commemorates emancipation on May 27. Saint Martin has a week-long celebration around May 27, commemorating the abolition of slavery. Central America On the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua the emancipation of slavery took place in the month of August 1841 but with different dates. Bluefields and Pearl Lagoon received their emancipation on August 10, 1841. Corn Island received its emancipation on August 27, 1841. Suriname - July 1 On 1 July, Keti Koti (Sranantongo: "the chain is cut" or "the chain is broken") is celebrated that marks Emancipation Day in Suriname, a former colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The day also remembers that enslaved people in Suriname would not be fully free until 1873, after a mandatory 10-year transition period during which time they were required to work on the plantations for minimal pay and with state sanctioned force. United States District of Columbia - April 16 The District of Columbia observes April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act (an act of Compensated emancipation) for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act, introduced by Massachusetts senator and ardent abolitionist Henry Wilson, freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves. On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District. Although Emancipation Day occurs on April 16, by law when April 16 falls during a weekend, Emancipation Day is observed on the nearest weekday. This affects