Pick 1 of the following questions to respond to. 3. In Article IV section 3 clause 1,
the Constitution prohibits one
state from being carved out of another, without the original state’s
consent. The creation of West Virginia in 1863 seemed to fly in the
face of this prohibition. The people of the western districts of Virginia
were strongly opposed to secession in 1861. They held few slaves
and had no desire to become a battlefield in the Civil War. When the
Virginia legislature debated secession, those from the Appalachian
Mountains region in the west voted to stay with the Union. After
Virginia joined the Confederacy, Richmond became the capital of the
rebel nation. Pro-Union Virginians then met in Wheeling to declare
themselves the legitimate government of the state. Because, as
President Abraham Lincoln had argued, states had no right to
secede, they asserted that Virginia had never left the Union. With
Virginia effectively divided during the war, the pro-Unionist
government petitioned Congress to become a separate state. Congress acted and West Virginia
joined the Union on June 20, 1863. React to this situation with West Virginia. Does the reasoning for West Virginia’s creation
match the criteria for statehood in Article IV? Why or why not?