Taxes and Slavery

What does one have to do with the other? This year, quite a lot.

The other day I was trying to figure out why taxes are due on Monday, April 18 and not on Friday, April 15th. I couldn't come up with a reason so off to Google I went for the surprising answer: Emancipation Day.

From CNN Money...

You get three extra days to file your taxes this year. They'll be due on Mon., April 18.

The bonus days come thanks to Emancipation Day, a little-known Washington, D.C., holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves in the district.

Emancipation Day falls on Sat., April 16, but it is observed in D.C. on Fri., April 15. That prompted the IRS to extend the tax filing deadline to April 18 this year. Under the tax code, filing deadlines can't fall on Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

Emancipation Day? Although I'm a native DC resident I'd never heard of it.

From Wikipedia...

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. 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 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 as a tradition and historic celebration in 2002.

I like.

Now if DC residents could be freed from the tyranny of our Congressional overlords!