 Emancipation Commission

The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862 established an Emancipation Commission of three members to review petitions for compensation by slaveowners in the District of Columbia.On April 16, 1862, the same day that President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, he appointed Daniel R. Goodloe, Samuel Finley Vinton, and James G. Berret to the Commission.