WI: Virginia implements gradual emancipation in the 1830s

Grimbald

Monthly Donor
Eventually Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Arkansas follow.

Expansion of slavery seen as much less of a problem

Probably no (or a much shorter) War Between the States.
 
Eventually Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Arkansas follow.

Expansion of slavery seen as much less of a problem

Probably no (or a much shorter) War Between the States.

The world would be a better place.
 
Huge effect on US politics. You probably end up with entirely different politics and different presidents than OTL. You probably have a more expansionist US, and probably a more nativist one too. The slavery issue short-circuited the growing Know Nothing/American Party movement. If it weren't for that, you probably would have seen a messy merger between the Whigs and the Americans where the Americans got something out of the mix, unlike OTL.
 
I believe that the historic proposals that were circulated in Virginia at that time were predicated on the notion that most blacks freed would be removed from the state, preferably through colonization in Africa. The basic reasons for the failure of colonization schemes still exist, so I suspect that instead, most of these blacks would wind up settling in the western territories.
 
I believe that the historic proposals that were circulated in Virginia at that time were predicated on the notion that most blacks freed would be removed from the state, preferably through colonization in Africa. The basic reasons for the failure of colonization schemes still exist, so I suspect that instead, most of these blacks would wind up settling in the western territories.

They could end up as indentured servants/sharecroppers like in OTL, or even possibly be part of a bigger (yet still failed) colonization attempt. The Western territories I don't think were very kind to free blacks at the time, so the place of Freedmen could form the big political question of the day. Deport or keep as wards of the state in a sense.
 
I believe that the historic proposals that were circulated in Virginia at that time were predicated on the notion that most blacks freed would be removed from the state, preferably through colonization in Africa. The basic reasons for the failure of colonization schemes still exist, so I suspect that instead, most of these blacks would wind up settling in the western territories.

In reality, most of the blacks would have been sold south. That's more or less what happened in other states that allowed emancipation. They had a time lag before emancipation kicked in and the owners used the opportunity to sell their slaves, as everybody knew they would. Effective emancipation proposals in that time period did not have abolitionist motives. Their motives were racial--they wanted to clear their state of 'the negro'-and blue collar--they wanted to reduce competition for free, white labor.
 
Eventually Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Arkansas follow.

Agreed, although it's important to identify what gradual emancipation means. It would probably have several components mirroring the gradual emancipation in Pennsylvania and deportation.

1) Prohibition of new slaves being sent to the state effective immediately or at a very nearby date.

2) Establishing all children born after a certain date or free, but possibly that children born of slave mothers be indentured servants until a certain time.

3) Establishment of a registry of slaves to comply enforcement. Those slaves not registered annually or improperly become emanicpated immediately.

4) Probably some sort of colonization clause that would deport freed blacks to Liberia.

5) Enslaved blacks at the time of the law would remain slaves, although it is likely after many decades any surviving elderly blacks would be emanicpated by another law.

This means that slavery would continue for some time in Virginia. However, Virginia passing such a law would establish precedent and credibility in other states, and we'd likely see the above states introduce similar laws on their own in the next decade or two.

With the Upper South committed to abolition of some kind, the Deep South will never be able to enforce free state/slave state parity in the Senate. That will eliminate much of the animosity of the Mexican War and avoid the Kansas-Nebraska debacle. It also probably means Congress will designate new territories as free and prevent its spread beyond any state where it already exists by 1848 or so.

Within the states that adopted gradual emanicpation, we won't see much change for the first two decades. But after that, the slave population will begin to decline severely, and those people entering the workforce won't be slaves at all. That probably means Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee will begin to industrialize along the lines of Pennsylvania and the Midwest.

The Whigs will never split up over slavery. Southern Whigs will be comfortable with discussion of gradual emancipation. Even if Whigs in the Deep South become so hostile over any discussion in their states that the Whigs die there, there are enough electoral votes in play that the national Whig Party can survive as is, and a free soil Republican Party will never arise from their ashes.

Probably by the 1880s, the Upper South is predominantly free with a small population of elderly slaves. At that stage (if not before), there will be political pressure for the Deep South to embark on similar policy to eliminate slavery entirely from the country. It's possible such emanicpation will come from Congress and not the states, and rely on new federal revenue from taxes and customs for a program of compensated emanicpation rather than gradual.

The real question is what happens to all the newly freed blacks? Colonization is not a practical strategy for such large numbers. While some will be sent off to Liberia, I think many more will find a way to stay. Might there be encouragement to designate some territory as a black homeland and encourage them to move there? If not on the continental, then perhaps a Caribbean island will be targetted for annexation to encourage deportation there?
 

Dirk_Pitt

Banned
Agreed, although it's important to identify what gradual emancipation means. It would probably have several components mirroring the gradual emancipation in Pennsylvania and deportation.

1) Prohibition of new slaves being sent to the state effective immediately or at a very nearby date.

2) Establishing all children born after a certain date or free, but possibly that children born of slave mothers be indentured servants until a certain time.

3) Establishment of a registry of slaves to comply enforcement. Those slaves not registered annually or improperly become emanicpated immediately.

4) Probably some sort of colonization clause that would deport freed blacks to Liberia.

5) Enslaved blacks at the time of the law would remain slaves, although it is likely after many decades any surviving elderly blacks would be emanicpated by another law.

This means that slavery would continue for some time in Virginia. However, Virginia passing such a law would establish precedent and credibility in other states, and we'd likely see the above states introduce similar laws on their own in the next decade or two.

With the Upper South committed to abolition of some kind, the Deep South will never be able to enforce free state/slave state parity in the Senate. That will eliminate much of the animosity of the Mexican War and avoid the Kansas-Nebraska debacle. It also probably means Congress will designate new territories as free and prevent its spread beyond any state where it already exists by 1848 or so.

Within the states that adopted gradual emanicpation, we won't see much change for the first two decades. But after that, the slave population will begin to decline severely, and those people entering the workforce won't be slaves at all. That probably means Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee will begin to industrialize along the lines of Pennsylvania and the Midwest.

The Whigs will never split up over slavery. Southern Whigs will be comfortable with discussion of gradual emancipation. Even if Whigs in the Deep South become so hostile over any discussion in their states that the Whigs die there, there are enough electoral votes in play that the national Whig Party can survive as is, and a free soil Republican Party will never arise from their ashes.

Probably by the 1880s, the Upper South is predominantly free with a small population of elderly slaves. At that stage (if not before), there will be political pressure for the Deep South to embark on similar policy to eliminate slavery entirely from the country. It's possible such emanicpation will come from Congress and not the states, and rely on new federal revenue from taxes and customs for a program of compensated emanicpation rather than gradual.

The real question is what happens to all the newly freed blacks? Colonization is not a practical strategy for such large numbers. While some will be sent off to Liberia, I think many more will find a way to stay. Might there be encouragement to designate some territory as a black homeland and encourage them to move there? If not on the continental, then perhaps a Caribbean island will be targetted for annexation to encourage deportation there?

Maybe OTL Oklahoma. It was slated as Indian territory at the time...
 
They could end up as indentured servants/sharecroppers like in OTL, or even possibly be part of a bigger (yet still failed) colonization attempt. The Western territories I don't think were very kind to free blacks at the time, so the place of Freedmen could form the big political question of the day. Deport or keep as wards of the state in a sense.

Wm H Harrison, a governor & developer of the North West Territory & early Governor of Indiana seemed to have had that idea. The NW Territory Ordnance prohibited slaver north of the Ohio River. Harrison backed a proposal for the Indiana Constitution allowing "Lifetime Indentured Servitude". Harrison & his supported had a vision of a new Virginia style plantation system in Indiana, vast estates with a few small towns sprinkled in for the the necessary tradesmen. A huge wave of settlers moving in to claim farmland put a end to that vision.
 

katchen

Banned
Virginia emancipating in the 1830s would mean a lot fewer slaves. Many Virginia planters with marginal plantations wound up going into the business of BREEDING slaves to be sold South. WIth early gradual emancipation, that would not happen. Very likely the African-American population in the US might be 25% less than OTL.
And the way would be paved for Virginia to catch the first wave of industrialization. Coal mining in the west of Virginia might well lead to steel making in the Shenandoah and Norfolk-Newport News becoming as prominent an eastern seaport as Baltimore or Philadelphia. More so if Kentucky and Tennessee followed suit in short order.
Politically, at that point, we might start to see Deep South states attempting to split themselves every time a free state needed to be admitted to the Union, just to keep Southern control of the Senate. And an earlier push to take over Cuba and more of Mexico and insistence that any territory taken from Mexico would have legal slavery. And quite a few more Virginia planters than IOTL would migrate to Texas ahead of emancipation. You might even see subterfuges develop such as shipping late term pregnant slaves to North Carolina or Maryland for the last few months of their pregnancy to prevent their children from being born free in Virginia. :(
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Worth pointing out, again, that other than the land itself

Worth pointing out, again, that other than the land itself, the single most valauble economic asset in the United States throughout the antebellum period were the enslaved human beings who lived there.

There's a reason it took a Civil War to end slavery entirely.

What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe is a great one volume survey, with great insight.

Best,
 
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