April 1, 2025 - West Virginia was recognized by the U.S. government as the thirty-fifth state on June 20, 1863, an event that was the culmination of more than sixty years of heated sectional politics and legislative maneuverings. From the first political rumblings of new-state advocates at the turn of the ...

June 10, 2025 - In 1861, as the United States itself ... reconciled as a single state again. In 1863, the western region was admitted to the Union as a new separate state, initially planned to be called the State of Kanawha, but ultimately named West Virginia....

April 22, 2024 - Home > The Center for Legislative Archives > Featured Congressional Documents > West Virginia Statehood, June 20, 1863 · Among the historical records of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are documents that illustrate the important role Congress plays in the creation of states.

A Second Wheeling Convention met in June 1861 to consider Western Virginia's options. Some leaders wanted to proceed directly to the formation of a new state; others thought it unwise to take such a step during wartime. A third group led by Waitman T.

Secession from Virginia was the hope of some western Virginians as early as 1829. Many western Virginians felt underrepresented in the legislature, overtaxed, and shortchanged in state spending.

They probably forced weaker tribes, including the Shawnee, Mingo, and others, to abandon most of the state. In 1606, King James I of England granted to the Virginia Company of London a vast expanse of land that included all of Virginia, present West Virginia, and Kentucky, as well as parts ...

The day celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the state as a result of the secession of several northwestern counties of Virginia during the American Civil War. In 1861, as the United States itself became massively divided over regional issues, leading to the American Civil War (1861-1865), ...

That was a change of Section Seven of Article Eleven, dealing with the negroes in the new state. Whereas, the first draft had been vague in the matter, the revised article required by Congress and the President insisted on a system of gradual emancipation in West Virginia to begin on July 4, 1863.

Find the Governor’s Executive Budget documents, as well as budget bills approved by the Legislature.

August 29, 2024 - When Virginia voted to secede from the Union in 1861, five days after the official start of the Civil War, its western counties dissented, forming the Union-loyal Restored Government of Virginia. A constitution was drafted for the new state, and a petition for statehood was proposed to the U.S.

August 16, 2018 - West Virginia became the 35th state admitted to the Union on June 20th, 1863, just weeks before the Battle of Gettysburg. It would play an important role in the Civil War as a border state. An estimated 32,000 West Virginians fought for the Union, with between 12,000 to 15,000 signing up for ...

September 10, 2024 - Federally, the West Virginia Statehood Bill was first debated in the U.S Senate chamber in June 1862. Article IV of the U.S. Constitution requires Congress to confirm all new state constitutions. The WV constitution that arrived in Washington, D.C. barred slaves and freedmen of color from entering ...

3 days ago - Most voted to separate from Virginia, and the new state was admitted to the Union in 1863. In 1864 a state constitutional convention drafted a constitution, which was ratified by the legislature without putting it to popular vote. West Virginia abolished slavery by a gradual process and temporarily ...

West Virginia's admission to the Union on June 20, 1863, marks a unique moment in American history, as it occurred amid the turmoil of the Civil War. The state was formed from the northwestern part of Virginia, where dissatisfaction with the state's alignment with the Confederacy spurred a ...

July 26, 1999 - West Virginia, constituent state of the U.S. It was admitted as the 35th state of the union in 1863. It is bordered to the north by Pennsylvania, to the east by Maryland and Virginia, to the southwest by Kentucky, and to the northwest by Ohio. The state capital is Charleston.

The Civil War was one of the pivotal events in the history of the United States, one that determined once and for all the question of slavery and strengthened the role of the federal government. For Virginians, the 1861-1865 conflict was momentous for another event - the rending of Virginia into two parts, east and west, and the formation of a new state called "West Virginia." The events that led to the creation ...

On October 24, 1861, a group of delegates in 39 Virginia counties decided to start the process of forming their own state during the Civil War, beginning a constitutional debate that continues to this day.

January 5, 2016 - Today’s post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. On the creation of new states, the Constitution is pretty clear. Article IV, Section 3…

June 20, 2023 - On this day in 1863, West Virginia is admitted into the Union. At the time, some questioned whether West Virginia—formerly a part of the State of Virginia—could legally be admitted as a state without Virginia’s consent.Virginia, of course, had not consented.

June 20, 2024 - The Birth of West Virginia: A Historical Overview I am always asking “why?” when it come to history. So many decisions and events that have occurred could have turned out a different way to alter the course of history. One such event was the creation of West Virginia.