American Revolution AHC: More loyalist North, more rebellious South.

We all know the story, right? During the American Revolution, the northern colonies were the ones that were home to the most support for the Patriots, whereas the South, originally, tended to lean more Loyalist during the first half of the war(though Virginia was pretty deeply divided, and the Backcountry Scots-Irish were rather inclined to throw their lot in with the rebels). But what if this whole had been switched? What if the North had been loyalist and the South was the region most supportive of independence?

This is going to be a somewhat difficult challenge to pull off plausibly, but if you choose to accept it, the POD can be no earlier than 1740, and no later than 1772, in the immediate aftermath of the Somerset case. Bonus points of a Dominion of Northern America(or Columbia and New England, maybe?) is created after the Revolution, perhaps along the lines of Sobel's Confederation of North America(if one prefers that).
 
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An anti-slavery Britain threatens the Southerners' livelihood?

Believe it or not, this was actually claimed to have been reality:)eek:), incredibly, by one Gerald Horne, from the University of Houston, in his book, "The Counter-Revolution of 1776":

http://nyupress.org/books/9781479893409/

Sadly, this book really wasn't much than a badly biased pseudo-history piece, but having just now remembered it(within the past few minutes, in fact, before I finished this reply), maybe it could have been the basis for an at least halfway decent ATL, perhaps similar to what I've proposed here?

Combined with less taxes on trade, no Tea Act, and none of the Intolerable Acts that could work.

Maybe so, but what of the Somerset case, or an equivalent(assuming a POD about maybe 10 years, at least, before the OTL case)? Is it possible, that Britain conscripting free Afro-Americans into the Army to fight the French and Indian War might have a significant effect, at least if they win?
 
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jahenders

Banned
Britain going anti-slavery earlier and more markedly is probably the most likely impetus to set off the South. Then if some of the most offensive measures (Stamp Act, etc) don't set the North off, then the North stays loyal

In this scenario, you might not have AN ARW, rather you might have something like the "Southern Colonies Revolution" (SCR) (Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia) while the other colonies refuse to participate. If those colonies declared independence alone, they'd be hard pressed to maintain it. Britain would likely seize all the port/coastal cities of significance while pushing overland into Virginia. The Carolinas and Georgia might have significant rebellious areas for some time, but they'd be crippled economically and the whole thing would largely die out in a few years, leaving only a few lawless counties.
 
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