alternatehistory.com

North Carolina before 1835 was going through some major growing pains. The population has shifted West but the power of mean in the East because of several factors, such as a few cities having the same rights counties did, as far as the legislature, all power being in the legislature - and thus most of the power being used by the Easterners - and in fact of the Senate even picking the governor instead of the governor being popularly elected, and so on.

The result was that after a variety of complaints by the Western part of North Carolina, including some calls for being another state, the railroads wound up being a reason for enough easterners to join with the westerners that a new state constitution was possible.

However, approval for a constitutional convention only passed the Senate by one vote and the legislature by a few.

What if this is delayed? How long could it be delayed? Would it be possible for the western part to become another state? Could it be delayed long enough that the Western part remains part of the Union in the Civil War?

It seems like with the way the railroads were growing a state constitutional change would be inevitable by the 1840s but it is an interesting question to see how long it could be dragged out, if it could be to the Civil War.
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