Last Saturday the state of West Virginia celebrated its 163rd birthday. But this celebration was based on one of the most unusual statehood stories in American history. It grew out of long-standing political, economic, and geographic divisions within Virginia, then became possible during the Civil War when Unionist leaders in the northwestern counties rejected Virginia’s secession and organized a loyal government recognized by the United States.
For decades before the Civil War, residents of western Virginia felt politically and economically disadvantaged by the eastern part of the state. Eastern Virginia’s plantation economy relied heavily on enslaved labor, while the mountainous western counties had fewer enslaved people and economies based more on small farms, timber, salt, coal, and transportation. Westerners also objected to Virginia’s representation system, tax policies, and limited investment in roads and internal improvements that would benefit their region. There had been talk and conventions as early as 1812 where the western counties of Virginia banded together and discussed separation from the Old Dominion. Other conventions were held in the 1820s and again in the 1840s to discuss the same issues. Virginia’s response to the northwestern counties was to provide them with internal improvement projects such as toll roads, the Insane Asylum in Weston, Virginia, and the state penitentiary at Moundsville.
When Virginia voted to secede from the Union in 1861, many northwestern Virginians refused to accept the decision. Elected delegates from some of the northwestern counties fled Richmond after the initial secession vote. They met first at the courthouse in Clarksburg, to discuss their options. From there they moved the convention to Wheeling and formed what became known as the Loyal and Restored Government of Virginia. This “government in exile” claimed to be the legitimate government of Virginia because it remained loyal to the United States. Its recognition by President Abraham Lincoln and Congress was crucial because the U.S. Constitution requires the consent of an existing state before a new state can be formed from its territory. According to Article IV, Section III of the U.S. Constitution, no new state can be formed from the territory of an existing state without the latter’s consent.
In 1862, Congress considered admitting the new state, but statehood became tied to slavery. Senator Waitman T. Willey proposed an amendment requiring gradual emancipation in West Virginia’s constitution. After West Virginians approved the revised constitution abolishing slavery, and Congress approved statehood, President Lincoln issued a proclamation recognizing West Virginia as a state. West Virginia officially entered the Union on June 20, 1863, becoming the thirty-fifth state.
After the Civil War, Virginia challenged West Virginia’s possession of the eastern panhandle counties of Berkeley and Jefferson. These counties had voted in 1863 to join West Virginia, but after the war Virginia argued that their inclusion was improper and that the votes were invalid. The dispute reached the U.S. Supreme Court in Virginia v. West Virginia. In 1871, the Court ruled that Berkeley and Jefferson counties were legally part of West Virginia, rejecting Virginia’s effort to reclaim them.
A second major dispute concerned Virginia’s prewar public debt. Before the Civil War, Virginia had borrowed heavily to fund canals, turnpikes, internal improvements, and railroads. After West Virginia separated, Virginia argued that the new state should pay a fair share of that debt. The issue remained unresolved for decades and eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court again. In 1911, the Court held that West Virginia was obligated to pay part of Virginia’s debt, with interest, because the terms of separation created a binding obligation between the two states.
The formation of West Virginia shows how the Civil War reshaped constitutional law, federalism, and state boundaries. Its statehood depended on the unusual legal grounds that the Restored Government of Virginia could consent to the creation of a new state from Virginia’s territory. The later lawsuits over county boundaries and public debt demonstrated that West Virginia’s separation from Virginia was not fully settled when the war ended; instead, its legal consequences continued for more than half a century.
So, can West Virginia legally claim statehood, or is it still a portion of the Old Dominion as some still argue? The Supreme Court’s 1871 decision confirmed that West Virginia was officially a state in the federal union and denied Virginia’s claims. The court refused to accept the claim that the Loyal and Restored State of Virginia, formed in Wheeling, had no legal standing.
The United States Supreme Court is the designated venue for resolving legal battles between states. This authority comes from Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the Court “original jurisdiction” in all cases “in which a State shall be a Party.” This means that unlike cases that reach the Supreme Court through appeals, a lawsuit between two states begins at the Supreme Court and is filed directly with the justices. The Judiciary Act of 1789 solidified this role, making the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction exclusive in suits between two or more states. This exclusivity ensures that no state court or lower federal court can preside over a dispute involving another state, placing such litigation in the hands of the nation’s highest court from the outset. The Court’s role is to act as an impartial arbiter. The court, in 1871, ruled in favor of West Virginia and as a result settled the long-standing dispute.
If you’re enjoying these blogs, please drop me a comment or if you have any questions that I might answer, submit a comment on the comment pages. I’m always glad to hear from you.
Again, please look at all my books that I have listed. They can be purchased from Amazon.com with the click of a button directly from my website at Authors Published Works.
The Advisor Series:
- “The Senior Army Instructor” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/BOGSXJ2ZHC)
- “The Advisor, Kien Bing, South Vietnam, 1969-1970. A Novel” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L4X5NQ3)
- “The Province Senior Intelligence Advisor, Kien Song Province 1970-1971; A Novel” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHL2XCX5)
- “The Hardchargers,” Vietnam 1972-1973; A Novel” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7SPR1JY)
- “The Tuscarora Trail” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3QY2GM6)
Leave a Reply