WEST VIRGINIA - The formation of West Virginia is a unique and fascinating chapter in American history, as it is the only state born directly out of the turmoil of the Civil War. The separation from Virginia was not a sudden decision but the culmination of decades of deep-seated disagreements between the two regions, which were ultimately brought to a breaking point by the issue of secession.
How the Civil War Created West Virginia
Long before the Civil War, the western counties of Virginia felt like a separate entity from the eastern part of the state. The divisions were profound and covered three main areas:
- Geography and Economy: The mountainous terrain of the west was not suitable for the large, slave-based plantation agriculture that dominated the economy of the flat, eastern Tidewater region. The west's economy was based on small farms, timber, and burgeoning industries like coal and salt, which relied on free labor, not enslaved labor.
- Political Underrepresentation: The Virginia state government was controlled by the wealthy, slave-holding planter class of the east. Western counties felt consistently underrepresented in the state legislature, overtaxed, and shortchanged when it came to state funding for crucial infrastructure like roads and canals.
- Slavery: While slavery existed in the western counties, it was far less prevalent than in the east. Many western Virginians, for both economic and moral reasons, were either ambivalent or actively opposed to the institution, creating a significant cultural and ideological divide with the east.
The Breaking Point: Secession and the Civil War
The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the subsequent secession of seven Southern states pushed Virginia to a crisis.
- The Virginia Secession Convention: In April 1861, the Virginia Convention in Richmond voted to secede from the Union. The vote was highly contentious, and the delegates from the western counties voted overwhelmingly against secession, wanting to remain loyal to the United States.
- A Government in Exile: Following the secession vote, Unionist leaders from the western counties refused to recognize the authority of the government in Richmond. They organized their own convention in Wheeling, creating a pro-Union government called the Restored Government of Virginia. This new government claimed to be the legitimate governing body of the entire state.
The Path to Statehood:
With the help of Union troops who moved in to secure the region, the Restored Government of Virginia took a momentous step. Acting as the "legitimate" government of Virginia, the Wheeling-based legislature gave its own official consent for the western counties to separate and form a new state.
This clever, though constitutionally debatable, maneuver met the requirement of the U.S. Constitution, which states that a new state cannot be formed from the territory of an existing state without the consent of that state's legislature.
After a series of conventions and the adoption of a new state constitution that included a plan for the gradual abolition of slavery, the proposal for statehood was sent to Washington, D.C. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill, and on June 20, 1863, West Virginia was officially admitted to the Union as the 35th state.
Sources:
- The Virginia Museum of History & Culture
- The West Virginia Encyclopedia
- The National Constitution Center
- The U.S. National Archives
- Historical accounts of the Virginia Secession Convention
