This surprised the shit out of me. An Alabama slaveholder wishing to free his slaves, needed an act of (stste) Congress.
Slavery in the ante-bellum South is a fascinating subject. I took a module on it during my undergrad studies.
Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South, by Kenneth M. Stampp, is well worth a read. As is C, Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow.
He had to pony up $1000 too.