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Virginia, perhaps uniquely (or at least outstandingly) amongst American cotton states, was the home to a native abolitionist/manumissionist movement for a long time in the late 18th century and early 19th century. It never got huge, but it did exist and would peak from time to time. In the immediately post-Revolutionary era it was perhaps at its strongest and most capable of success. It was still quite a while from true success, but it's interesting to note that it was in this period that many prominent planters in this period manumitted their slaves in their wills.

Now, what can be done about getting either this small movement or a later one to succeed? Part of the reason this early movement is so promising is that this is when the state of Virginia had the resources in terms of open land to actually pursue a program of compensated gradual manumission. During the 1780's, Virginia had only just ceded its Western Domain to the national government, and talk about conditions for the cession was endemic when it was being considered. Usually those conditions involved putting the screws to land companies from other states which were interested in the cession, but there might be the possibility for a Virginian abolitionist to slip a condition in that requires the national government to offer land to slave-owners who would manumit their slaves.

This is only one possibility. Jefferson attempted to introduce a provision into the first bill by the Confederation Congress governing the organization and use of the National Domain that would have barred slavery in the entirety of the West, instead of just in the Old Northwest as occurred IOTL's Northwest Ordinance. If such a thing had occurred, Virginia would have several examples of free states populated almost entirely by emigrant Virginians to look at for a generation or two and help convince resident Virginians that maybe abolition or manumission isn't such a terrible idea.

How else might we be able to get Virginia as a free state as early as possible?
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