Stryker65
Captain
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2023
- Location
- William & Mary
Learned some interesting things today. As it turns out, West Virginia did not secede from Confederate Virginia. What really happened was that after Virginia seceded and joined the Confederacy, delegates from the Unionist-leaning northwestern counties (present-day West Virginia) organized the Wheeling Convention at that city, electing Marion County's Francis H. Peirpont as "Restored Governor of Virginia." As such, Peirpont claimed authority over all of Virginia, including Richmond, Petersburg, and everything else under Confederate occupation. This new "Restored Government" was subsequently recognized by Congress as the true government of Virginia, and while Peirpont is known as the "Father of West Virginia," he in fact never actually served as the governor of that state.
On June 20, 1863, the fifty northwestern counties of Virginia successfully petitioned the federal government to recognize them as a separate state, and West Virginia was born -- not from Confederate Virginia, but from the Restored Government of Virginia. In this act, Governor Peirpont lost 40% of the state of Virginia, and was forced to move the capital of the "Restored Government" to Alexandria, where he formed a new legislature. The new state of West Virginia elected Wood County's Arthur I. Boreman as governor, officially splitting from Virginia.
TLDR: West Virginia was legally created by taking fifty counties not from Virginia the Confederate state, but from Virginia the Union state.
On June 20, 1863, the fifty northwestern counties of Virginia successfully petitioned the federal government to recognize them as a separate state, and West Virginia was born -- not from Confederate Virginia, but from the Restored Government of Virginia. In this act, Governor Peirpont lost 40% of the state of Virginia, and was forced to move the capital of the "Restored Government" to Alexandria, where he formed a new legislature. The new state of West Virginia elected Wood County's Arthur I. Boreman as governor, officially splitting from Virginia.
TLDR: West Virginia was legally created by taking fifty counties not from Virginia the Confederate state, but from Virginia the Union state.
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