Why Does West Virginia Still Exist?
Virginia failed to reunify after the Civil War
West Virginia is unique in two ways. It is the only state with the word West in it (as opposed to North or South), and it is the only state to form out of another state during the Civil War. West Virginia was a secession born out of a secession. West Virginia left Virginia during the Civil War over the issue of secession. But why didn’t they rejoin Virginia after the war? The rest of the country reunited in the wake of the fighting. Why didn’t Virginia?
Why does West Virginia still exist today?
Civil War Blues
The Civil War was a divisive conflict that split the United States in two. It also split the state of Virginia in two. Virginia voted to secede from the Union in 1861 and guaranteed that the Civil War would be a long and bloody conflict. Virginia was the largest, wealthiest, and most developed state in the region, and when it joined the Confederacy, it supplied the manpower and industrial power that the rebel nation needed to wage war against the North.
However, not everyone was on board with secession. A large number of counties in the northwestern corner were completely opposed to seceding from the Union. These counties immediately began organizing an effort to create a new state and…
