Antebellum Political Calculus if a Slave State Emancipates

A long title, I know. Anyway, given how mich of antebellum US national politics was driven by the desire to maintain a balance between slave states and free states, and that balance was maintained until 1850.

What if, prior to 1850, one or more of the classic slave states (so not a northern state that was just really gradual with emancipation) voted in favor of emancipation? How would this throw the whole system upside, how would the politicians cope, would it make secession more likely or less?
 

kernals12

Banned
A long title, I know. Anyway, given how mich of antebellum US national politics was driven by the desire to maintain a balance between slave states and free states, and that balance was maintained until 1850.

What if, prior to 1850, one or more of the classic slave states (so not a northern state that was just really gradual with emancipation) voted in favor of emancipation? How would this throw the whole system upside, how would the politicians cope, would it make secession more likely or less?
If it's Virginia that does it, I don't think the rest of the South would try to secede. But that's quite unrealistic. I think that pro slave forces would accept 1/3 of states allowing slavery, enough to block a constitutional amendment.
 
If it's Virginia that does it, I don't think the rest of the South would try to secede. But that's quite unrealistic. I think that pro slave forces would accept 1/3 of states allowing slavery, enough to block a constitutional amendment.

They started to get pretty squirrely in that last decade when they saw the balance slipping, and lost their shit when a president who swore not to mess with slavery in slave states was elected. Do you really think they’ll be alright with losing influence faster?
 
Does Delaware count as a "classic slave state"? Because if so, there were several efforts to emancipate, one of which passed the State Assembly, and only failed by one vote in the Senate...with the deciding vote coming from a guy who might not have been legally eligible to hold his seat, as he lived in Pennsylvania at the time. So...yeah, POD.
 
Does Delaware count as a "classic slave state"? Because if so, there were several efforts to emancipate, one of which passed the State Assembly, and only failed by one vote in the Senate...with the deciding vote coming from a guy who might not have been legally eligible to hold his seat, as he lived in Pennsylvania at the time. So...yeah, POD.

Any state that was aslave state in 1860 counts.
 
Does Delaware count as a "classic slave state"? Because if so, there were several efforts to emancipate, one of which passed the State Assembly, and only failed by one vote in the Senate...with the deciding vote coming from a guy who might not have been legally eligible to hold his seat, as he lived in Pennsylvania at the time. So...yeah, POD.

I'd read that timeline. What are your thoughts on a legislated end to slavery if the balance of free/slave states is upset by a slave state adopting gradual emancipation? Would say Maryland or Virginia or NC be more accepting of a "people born after X date" style emancipation if it mirrored something a fellow Southern state had already done? Or does this just move Delaware more firmly into the Northern camp without changing much?
 
Any state that was aslave state in 1860 counts.

Well, then, we have a start, I guess. I found my source again, this bill was from 1847, got further than previous efforts because of industrialization in Wilmington creating a strong constituency for abolition. So, by the provisions, any slaves born in Delaware after 1850 would be free.

The question now is what effect this would have on the ongoing Compromise of 1850 legislation. The South would want an extra slave state somewhere, to restore balance in the Senate. But where? New Mexico was allowed to go the popular sovereignty route, which ensured no slavery, since there wasn't a call for it on the ground. Maybe Texas would retain some of its older territorial claims in the west, but also get divided into two slave states?
 
Does Delaware count as a "classic slave state"? Because if so, there were several efforts to emancipate, one of which passed the State Assembly, and only failed by one vote in the Senate...with the deciding vote coming from a guy who might not have been legally eligible to hold his seat, as he lived in Pennsylvania at the time. So...yeah, POD.
Probably not in the same sense as Alabama or Mississippi. While the economics were certainly different, the demographics between the deep south and Delaware are pretty divergent. I can't help but feel that the fire eaters probably knew they couldn't rely on tiny deleware for lockstep support. OTOH, had Kentucky or Virginia moved toward manumission in the 1850s, I could see where that would have moved the plate tectonics of slavery politics as much as Lincoln's election.
 

kernals12

Banned
Isn’t that on their license plates?
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