The vote to secede in NC was very close, and the state saw a dirty guerilla war between pro and anti union forces. What happens if they stay in the Union?
Saying that the vote for secession was close in NC is misleading. The vote *on February 28 for calling a convention* was very close (opponents of the convention winning by 47,323 to 46,672; and even a few Unionists favored calling a convention, so the anti-secessionist majority was actually larger than that.) However, that was before the bombardment of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops. Once those had happened, the question was not at all close.
"On April 15, Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to “put down the rebellion.” Governor Ellis responded: “You can get no troops from North Carolina.” When word arrived of Lincoln’s summons, Zebulon Vance, with arms upraised, was pleading for the preservation of the Union: “When my hand came down from that impassioned gesticulation,” he said, “it fell slowly and sadly by the side of a secessionist.”
"Ellis called a special session of the legislature for May 1 and ordered seizure of all federal property. The Assembly voted to have a delegate election on May 13 to an unrestricted convention to meet in Raleigh on May 20. The campaign that followed was characterized more by resignation than enthusiasm, as evidenced by former Unionists’ and secessionists’ speeches disparaging aggression.
"When the convention met, delegates debated whether to secede, as some Unionists suggested, on the basis of “the right of revolution.” Radical secessionists, however, favored repealing the state’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution as the most appropriate means of leaving the Union.
"The convention elected Weldon N. Edwards (1788-1873), a Democratic planter from Warren County, as president. In a speech, he denounced allying with the “Black Republican Union.” One-time Unionist George R. Badger (1795-1866) introduced a resolution for separation from the Union based on the right of revolution. An alternative ordinance, dissolving the Union by repeal of ratification was proposed by F. Burton Craige (1811-1875) of Rowan County. The Badger proposal was defeated by a vote of 72 to 40, after which the Craige resolution passed unanimously. Delegates then voted to join the Confederate States of America (CSA). They also voted, at the request of Governor Ellis, not to put the secession ordinance to a popular vote. On May 21, President Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) proclaimed North Carolina a Confederate state."
http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/commentary/52/entry
In other words, the only debate at the convention was the *basis* for leaving the Union. The old Unionists who had denied that there was a legal right of secession tried to maintain consistency by basing secession on the "right of revolution." They had given up opposing secession itself.
To keep North Carolina in the Union after Lincoln's call for troops (and after Virginia's convention had voted for secession on April 17) is ASB territory.