Talk:History of West Virginia

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Contents

[edit] Page length and History

  • Most of the History section in the main West Virginia article is long, long block of text taken mainly from the PD Encyc. Brit. Now that this is the collab of the fortnight, what do we think of blending that section with this separate History of West Virginia, eliminating redundancies and highly detailed specifics that could instead go into separate sections. It just seems that the broad outline of West Virginia history belongs here, and an expanded piece on something like, say, the West Virginia Mine Wars would be a separate article. I'll certainly pitch in. — Tenebrae 15:56, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Berkeley and Jefferson

There are two conflicting accounts of when these counties joined the state, one under the legality heading (which says they were part of WV when it formed, but that was challenged by VA in 1866) and one under the civil war heading (which say they joined WV in 1866). [1] seems to support the first version, but does someone more knowledgable about the area know for sure? Kmusser 13:48, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

from Virgil Lewis's History and Government of West Virginia (1896): "Berkeley and Jefferson Counties were not included in West Virginia at the time of its admission into the Union. On January 31st, 1863, the Assembly, under the Reorganized Government, passed an act for Berkely and on the ensuing 4th of March for Jefferson, providing that elections be held in each and, if a majority of the votes cast be in favor of becoming a part of West Virginia, then the chief executive of the Reorganized Government should certify the result to the Governor of West Virginia. This was done, and August 5th, 1863, the Legislature of West Virginia passed an act admitting Berkely county, and by a similiar enactment on November 2nd following, Jefferson county mas made part of the new State."
"On December 8th, 1865, the Virginia Assembly, sitting in Richmond, repealed the act of 1863, by which the counties in question were transferred to West Virginia. Then the authorities of the State appealed to the 39th Congress, and March 2nd, 1866, that body passed an act declaring these counties to be subject to the jurisdiction of the new State the same as if they had been a part of it at the time of its formation. Virginia then brought suit against West Virginia in the Supreme Court of the United States for the recovery of these counties. The case was argued at the December term of that tribunal in 1866, but no decision was reached, and it was not again called until December, 1870, when it was heard a second time and a decision rendered in favor of the defendant-West Virginia-three of the judges of the court dissenting."
The following is from the official state Archives and History website:
"Pierpont ordered an election to allow the residents of Jefferson and Berkeley counties to determine whether their counties should be located in West Virginia or Virginia. Union troops were stationed outside polling places to intimidate those who might vote for Virginia. Despite local support for Virginia, residents who actually filled out ballots voted overwhelmingly to place both counties in West Virginia."
The voting results were approximately 10% of the number of eligible voters. But in this case Jefferson and Berkeley counties had an advantage over the rest of the counties of West Virginia, most of whom did not have a vote at all, the boundaries of the new state being determined by Wheeling without regard to the counties involved. Fearing that many counties would independently reject the new state, they made the vote on statehood binding by total vote, rather than county vote.Dubyavee 04:03, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The line

How was the line between Virginia and West Virginia decided? --NE2 21:43, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

In an nutshell, the border between the states is just the borders between the counties that joined WV and those that did not. As for most of those borders, they were essentially the ridgetops of a series of mountains that were used for the old county boundaries.
There is also a local tounge-in-cheek joke that the survey crew that was to draw the state line had a pet snake. One night the snake got intot heir moonshine whiskey and then slithered through their surveying paint and the line that the snake drew was used for the border (hence the look that the line was "drawn by a drunken snake." youngamerican (ahoy hoy) 12:05, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reason for secessionist feelings

I read the whole page carefully and I still don't understand what the reason was for the secession from Virginia. Lots of info on HOW, and none on WHY.

Why did West Virginians want to secede from Virginia? 198.49.180.254 20:01, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

    • You are asking for something that is difficult for Wikipedia, which is providing motivation with proof. If you mean 'Why did ordinary West Virginians favor statehood?', the answer is they didn't, there is no verifiable historical evidence that they did. If you mean 'Why did the Wheeling Government favor statehood?", that is hard to say. Many of them didn't, they almost adjourned on August 17, 1861, with a postponement of the issue, which would effectively have killed it. But a last-minute compromise effort by Charles Hooton put it back on the table. They voted 50-28 in favor of a public referendum on the issue. That referendum was mostly boycotted by the voters, and the vote was further compromised by the presence of Ohio soldier votes. John Carlile was the main proponent of statehood, but he changed his mind and became an active opponent. Waitman T. Willey, who opposed statehood at first, soon became its main champion. There was also a Northern element present in Wheeling which had no emotional ties to Virginia. You can see this clearly in their arguments over the name of the new state. [2] This Northern element manifested itself in the new Constitution (which was discarded in 1872) and in the fact that West Virginia's first three governors were originally from Pennsylvania and New York, and they had all participated in the dismemberment of Virginia. An analysis of the members of the Second Wheeling Convention has never been made to my knowledge, but it would be interesting. I suggest you get a copy of Richard Curry's "A House Divided", which is the only book to go into detail on West Virginia statehood.Dubyavee 01:52, 28 September 2007 (UTC)
I don't believe that there are NO sources anywhere which say anything about WHY in addition to the obviously rich trove of references on WHO, WHEN and WHERE. Even the book you indicate - if I read it, am I NOT going to find any WHY in it? You obviously read it. You must know what arguments those men made. I also don't agree that "something [...] is difficult for Wikipedia, which is providing motivation with proof" - except in the case where there is no proof, which I already said I don't believe. 198.49.180.254 23:48, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
Literally hundreds of history articles on Wikipedia provide reasons for the events and the motivations of the people involved. You know what? Just because you might not have something that you regard as "proof" enough for a Wikipedia article, a Talk: page is a different matter. You don't owe it to me to "prove" "Why did West Virginians want to secede from Virginia?". Just say so if you have any idea. Don't worry about me undermining your Pulitzer nomination. 198.49.180.254 23:58, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

SEE: "Wood County, West Virginia, in Civil War times: With an account of the guerrilla warfare in the Little Kanawha Valley" by H. E Matheny

Our people were starving to death in the winter of 1861 due to the Confederacy's commandeering along the lower Kanawha River. They robbed our packets hauling our farm produce and turned many away from forming Virginia policies. Matheny documents these troubled times in the Kanawha Region. His book includes rosters of Union recruits & where they were recruited. The book also contains the Virginia guerrilla and their female spies.


[edit] Help Please

[edit] Waterway considerations of US Congress section

A user requested citations. I provided them. Somehow, they need put into the citation or notes section at the bottom. I don't know how to do this. Can one of you Wiki-experts do this, please?

Or, maybe the examples about steamboat navigation Legislation on West Virginia waters might just need deleted completely. Really though, I'm not so sure that legislations would be within the scope of West Virginia's early River Traffic, anyway. I guess it's a judgement call on the part of several thinking people who are major editors on this article. Please edit and fix my offerings as you better editors see fit, please.

Thanks for your patience, Conaughy (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 20:00, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

And, thanks for fixing the buffalo skin canoes section from Salling journal quote. That looks so much better now... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Conaughy (talk • contribs) 20:08, 11 February 2008 (UTC)