WI: Slave-Free Virginia

I've noticed that a couple times in history that Virginia nearly "escaped" slavery as a whole or outlawed it. What I'm curious about is what would have happened if Virginia did outlaw slavery. Two chances I recall was near the Revolution and after Nat Turner's Rebellion. Would North Carolina have received some sort of "boost" in industry, or would places like South and North Carolina only hit more problems? Without the most powerful slave state, would slavery fade away instead of turning into a fighting issue, or would there still be a Civil War?
 

Glen

Moderator
I've noticed that a couple times in history that Virginia nearly "escaped" slavery as a whole or outlawed it. What I'm curious about is what would have happened if Virginia did outlaw slavery. Two chances I recall was near the Revolution and after Nat Turner's Rebellion. Would North Carolina have received some sort of "boost" in industry, or would places like South and North Carolina only hit more problems? Without the most powerful slave state, would slavery fade away instead of turning into a fighting issue, or would there still be a Civil War?

Virginia going free would cause a major shift in the balance of power between free and slave states. Several other border states would likely go with earlier emancipation once Virginia successfully does so. The Deep South will likely keep it as long as they can due to the profits perceived to be had from the practice. Actually, this may tip the South into an earlier Secession movement as they will see the handwriting on the wall even earlier. It is likely to be an even less successful venture than IOTL, with more states remaining in the Union, particularly Virginia. Virginia remains whole (no West Virginia).
 
Virginia going free would cause a major shift in the balance of power between free and slave states. Several other border states would likely go with earlier emancipation once Virginia successfully does so. The Deep South will likely keep it as long as they can due to the profits perceived to be had from the practice. Actually, this may tip the South into an earlier Secession movement as they will see the handwriting on the wall even earlier. It is likely to be an even less successful venture than IOTL, with more states remaining in the Union, particularly Virginia. Virginia remains whole (no West Virginia).

This, plus Richmond remains a major city in the US due to not getting ruined in the Civil War.
 
Virginia as a free state seems to be a killer for the whole confederacy. I think that in OTL that Virginia was the only state that had any industry to speak of at all. With no Virginia, the whole concept withers on the vine, as all the problems the confederacy had are doubled with Virginia being gone.
 
Most likely there will be no Confederacy, as even before Virginia and the other states in the upper South seceded, the deep South states were counting on their seccesion.
 
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