West Virginia: Difference between revisions

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 '''West Virginia''' is a landlocked [[U.S. state|state]] in the [[Southern United States|Southern]] and [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid-Atlantic]] regions of the [[United States]].<ref group="note">The [[United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau]] and the [[Association of American Geographers]] classify West Virginia as part of the [[Southern United States]] while the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] classifies the state as a part of the [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid-Atlantic]] region "[https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/ Mid-Atlantic Home : Mid-Atlantic Information Office: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics"]. www.bls.gov. Archived.</ref> It is bordered by [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Maryland]] to the northeast, [[Virginia]] to the southeast, [[Kentucky]] to the southwest, and [[Ohio]] to the northwest. West Virginia is the [[List of U.S. states and territories by area|10th-smallest state by area]] and ranks as the [[List of U.S. states and territories by population|12th-least populous state]], with a population of 1,793,716 residents.<ref>{{cite web|date=April 26, 2021|title=Census Data|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-table01.pdf|access-date=April 26, 2021|publisher=Census.gov}}</ref> The capital and [[List of municipalities in West Virginia|most populous city]] is [[Charleston, West Virginia|Charleston]] with a population of 49,055.
-West Virginia was admitted to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] on June 20, 1863, and was a key [[Border states (American Civil War)|border state]] during [[American Civil War|the American Civil War]]. It was the only state to form by separating from a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] state, one of two states (along with [[Nevada]]) admitted to the Union during the Civil War, and the second state to separate from another state, after [[Maine]] separated from [[Massachusetts]] in 1820. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were [[yeoman]] farmers, and the delegates provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the new state constitution. The state legislature abolished slavery in the state, and at the same time ratified the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment]] abolishing slavery nationally on February 3, 1865.
+West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key [[Border states (American Civil War)|border state]] during [[American Civil War|the American Civil War]]. It was the only state to form by separating from a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] state, one of two states (along with [[Nevada]]) admitted to the Union during the Civil War, and the second state to separate from another state, after [[Maine]] separated from [[Massachusetts]] in 1820. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were [[yeoman]] farmers, and the delegates provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the new state constitution. The state legislature abolished slavery in the state, and at the same time ratified the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment]] abolishing slavery nationally on February 3, 1865.
 West Virginia's [[northern panhandle]] extends adjacent to Pennsylvania and Ohio to form a [[tri-state area|tristate area]], with [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]], [[Weirton, West Virginia|Weirton]], and [[Morgantown, West Virginia|Morgantown]] just across the border from the [[Pittsburgh]] metropolitan area. [[Huntington, West Virginia|Huntington]] in the southwest is close to Ohio and Kentucky, while [[Martinsburg, West Virginia|Martinsburg]] and [[Harpers Ferry]] in the [[eastern panhandle]] region are considered part of the [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] metropolitan area, between Maryland and Virginia. West Virginia is often included in several U.S. geographical regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the [[Upland South]], and the [[Southeastern United States]]. It is the only state entirely within the area served by the [[Appalachian Regional Commission]]; the area is commonly defined as "[[Appalachia]]".<ref name="ARC service area">{{cite web |url=http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=27 |title=Appalachian Region: Counties in Appalachia |publisher=Appalachian Regional Commission |access-date=November 13, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917184038/http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=27 |archive-date=September 17, 2008 }}</ref>
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 The area now identified as West Virginia was contested territory among Anglo-Americans as well, with the colonies of [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Virginia]] claiming territorial rights under their colonial charters to this area before the American Revolutionary War. Some speculative land companies, such as the [[Vandalia Company]],<ref>[[Charles Henry Ambler]], "A History of West Virginia" pg. 104</ref> the [[Ohio Company]] and the [[Indiana Company]], tried but failed to legitimize their claims to land in parts of West Virginia and present-day Kentucky. This rivalry resulted in some settlers petitioning the Continental Congress to create a new territory called [[Westsylvania]]. With the federal settlement of the [[Yohogania County, Virginia|Pennsylvania and Virginia border dispute]], creating [[Kentucky County, Virginia]], Kentuckians "were satisfied [...] and the inhabitants of a large part of West Virginia were grateful."<ref>Charles H. Ambler. ''A History of West Virginia'', pp. 132–138</ref>
-The Crown considered the area of West Virginia part of the British [[Virginia Colony]] from 1607 to 1776. The United States considered this area the western part of the state of [[Virginia]] (commonly called ''Trans-Allegheny Virginia'') from 1776 to 1863, before West Virginia's formation. Its residents were discontented for years with their position in Virginia, as the government was dominated by the [[Planter class|planter elite]] of the [[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater]] and [[Piedmont region of Virginia|Piedmont]] areas. The legislature had electoral malapportionment, based on the counting of slaves toward regional populations, and western white residents were underrepresented in the state legislature. More subsistence and yeoman farmers lived in the west, and they were generally less supportive of slavery, although many counties were divided on their support. Residents of that area became more sharply divided after the planter elite of eastern Virginia voted to secede from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the Civil War.
+The Crown considered the area of West Virginia part of the British [[Virginia Colony]] from 1607 to 1776. The United States considered this area the western part of the state of [[Virginia]] (commonly called ''Trans-Allegheny Virginia'') from 1776 to 1863, before West Virginia's formation. Its residents were discontented for years with their position in Virginia, as the government was dominated by the [[Planter class|planter elite]] of the [[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater]] and [[Piedmont region of Virginia|Piedmont]] areas. The legislature had electoral malapportionment, based on the counting of slaves toward regional populations, and western white residents were underrepresented in the state legislature. More subsistence and yeoman farmers lived in the west, and they were generally less supportive of slavery, although many counties were divided on their support. Residents of that area became more sharply divided after the planter elite of eastern Virginia voted to secede from the Union during the Civil War.
 Residents of the western and northern counties set up a separate government under [[Francis Harrison Pierpont|Francis Pierpont]] in 1861, which they called the [[Restored Government of Virginia|Restored Government]]. 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 [[Disfranchisement|disenfranchised]] those who had held Confederate office or fought for the Confederacy.