Why Did Virginia Secede ?

Jantzen64 · Aug 4, 2021

Viper21 said:
Not necessarily. No state had more slaves in 1860 than Virginia. Yet, Virginia didn't secede until military coercion was made clear.

Virginia was most concerned about Virginia. Though her principles dictated invasion by the federal government was unconstitutional. Only when that was announced (15 April '61), did Virginia vote again & join the CSA (17 April '61) after voting overwhelmingly against secession on 4 April '61. This is the actual historical timeline. It's not debatable.

Virginia suffered tremendously for doing so. I suppose that's why her sons & daughters erected so many monuments.

Well, while that portion of the timeline is not debatable, the conclusions drawn from that timetable - and more importantly, other facts not mentioned in your post - are. Virginia established a secession convention back in February 1861 (after being requested by the Governor in November 1860 to do so). Clearly, the thought of seceding in fellowship with the first six states was being considered before Lincoln's call for troops. While it is true that the early votes on secession were voted down, it is equally true that those who voted against immediate secession were still hoping/working for some type of compromise with regard to extension of slavery into at least the southwest territories. The proposals of the Federal Relations Committee of the Convention, many of which were adopted, revealed that Virginia was in line with the seceding states with regard to slavery and its extension into the territories, and calls upon the North to compromise its position. When the Peace Conference and Lincoln's Inaugural Address indicated that it was unlikely that the North would back down on slavery in the territories, unionist support began to waver. As one delegate observed:

Sir, the great question which is now uprooting this Government to its foundation – the great question which underlies all our deliberations here, is the question of African slavery.

— Thomas F. Goode, speech to the Virginia Secession Convention, (March 28, 1861).

The South's firing on Fort Sumter, and Lincoln's call for troops in response, made it clear there would be no compromise, and forced the issue. The moderate unionists in the convention could no longer stall for time in the hope that a compromise could be reached, and support quickly shifted to secession. Given this history, it is incorrect to suggest that, but for Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call, Virginia would not have seceded. Absent what it regarded as a resolution of the slavery issue, Virginia was on an eventual collision course with a Union controlled by the Republican Party dedicated to preventing slavery in the territories. Regardless of the precipitating event, Virginia's vote to secede and join the Confederate states reflects that it valued slavery and state's rights to maintain slavery more than Union.

Viper21 · Aug 4, 2021