The Wheeling Conventions

Did you know west virginia was almost called Kanawha? That's one fact I always thought was kind of cool. Lawmakers considered Kanawha as a name but I guess they thought it would be confusing because Western Virginia had a county by that same name (kanawha county originated in 1788)
Original map of the proposed state of kanawha 

     So, lets talk about how West Virginia even became a state. Now, most of us know about West Virginia day and that it had something to do with the civil war but lets dive a little deeper. It all started with th Wheeling Conventions of 1881, which was an assembly of delegates from the north western part of Virginia. Their goal was to repeal the referendum to secede from the union and join the confederacy, that was passed in April, 1861 in Richmond. Their first meeting was held  May 13th- 15th. It was led by John Carlise of Clarksburg, and he called the newly proposed plan to secede treason against the United States.

     The two sides of Virginia were very different in a lot of ways and the people in the Western hills just didn't support what the East had decided for them. The state was governed by the aristocrats on the Eastern side of the state who pretty much just governed for themselves.
     After the voters had ratified the Ordinance of Secession, the delegates in Wheeling held another meeting in June. They knew they couldn't start a new state on their own, so they just decided to take the state back, calling themselves "The Restored Government of Virginia". They elected Francis Pierpont their governor and also elected two senators to go to Washington- Carlisle and Waltman Willey. There, president Lincoln saw the two and recognized the restored government as the legitimate government of Virginia 

References
Daily304, 2022, "the wheeling Conventions- the origins of west virginia", [video], youtube.com

J. Barnes, january 12th, 2023, John S. Carlise, wvencyclopedia.org

P. Sturm, January 12th, 2023, Francis Harrison Pierpont, wvencyclopedia.com

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