Division of Virginia

One of the major effects of the American Civil War is the division of Virginia. Virginia's Richmond convention voted on the Ordinance of Secession to leave the Union on April 17, 1861. However, a large number of delegates from Virginia's western counties opposed the notion. A meeting of these delegates was held at Clarksburg shortly after the ordinance was passed, and they suggested that each county in northwest Virginia send delegates to a convention that would be held in Wheeling.

Three conventions were held as a result at Wheeling in May, June, and July of 1861, and the "Restored Government of Virginia" was established, giving legal support to the creation of a state inside another. This indicated that there was a time when both the Confederacy and the United States had governments claiming to represent all of Virginia. The politics persisted for some months after that. Finally, in 1862, President Lincoln authorized the creation of West Virginia, which became the only state created by seceding from a Confederate state and became a state on June 20, 1863.