06/20/2023
Happy 160th birthday to the state of West Virginia! On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the thirty-fifth state. How did this happen? It all began with the outbreak of the Civil War. On April 17, 1861, delegates in Virginia voted 88 to 55 in favor of seceding from the Union. Of those who opposed secession, 32 were from modern-day West Virginia. One month later, two-thirds of all voters in the western counties voted against secession. Refusing to join the Confederacy, these Unionists set up a new government in the city of Wheeling and called for the creation of a separate state. They first proposed calling it "Kanawha" before renaming it "West Virginia." Once Congress passed the statehood bill and President Lincoln signed it, West Virginia officially joined the United States. Today, Harpers Ferry is proud to be one of eight National Park Service sites in the state of West Virginia.
https://ow.ly/4eHi50OSIUF https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/west-virginia
Alt-Text: Black and white map showing the enslaved population of Virginia in each county. The counties that formed West Virginia are in green.
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress
