4/2/24, 10:13 AM West Virginia - Wikipedia

West Virginia
West Virginia (/vərˈdʒɪnjəˌ -ni.ə/ vər-JIN-yə,
-⁠nee-ə)[5] is a state in the Southern and Mid- West Virginia
Atlantic regions of the United States.[note 2] It State
borders Pennsylvania to the north and east,
Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the
southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to
the northwest. West Virginia is the 10th-smallest
state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous
Flag
state, with a population of 1,793,716 residents.[6]
Seal
The capital and most populous city is Charleston
with a population of 49,055. Nickname: Mountain State
Motto(s): Montani semper liberi
West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June (English: Mountaineers Are Always Free)
20, 1863, and was a key border state during the Anthem: 4 songs

American Civil War. It was the only state to form

by separating from a 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 Map of the United States with West Virginia
highlighted
the same time ratified the 13th Amendment
abolishing slavery nationally on February 3, 1865. Country United States
Before statehood Part of Virginia
West Virginia's northern panhandle extends Admitted to the June 20, 1863 (35th)
adjacent to Pennsylvania and Ohio to form a Union
tristate area, with Wheeling, Weirton, and Capital Charleston
Morgantown just across the border from the (and largest city)
Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Huntington in the Largest county or Kanawha
equivalent
southwest is close to Ohio and Kentucky, while
Largest metro and Charleston–Huntington
Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry in the eastern urban areas (combined)
panhandle region are considered part of the Huntington (metro and
Washington metropolitan area, between Maryland urban)
and Virginia. West Virginia is often included in Government
several U.S. geographical regions, including the • Governor Jim Justice (R)
Mid-Atlantic, the Upland South, and the • Lieutenant Craig Blair (R)
Southeastern United States. It is the only state Governor
entirely within the area served by the Appalachian Legislature West Virginia Legislature
Regional Commission; the area is commonly • Upper house Senate
• Lower house House of Delegates
defined as "Appalachia".[7]
Judiciary Supreme Court of
Appeals of West Virginia

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The state is noted for its mountains and rolling U.S. senators Joe Manchin (D)
Shelley Moore Capito (R)
hills,[8] its historically significant coal mining and
U.S. House 1: Carol Miller (R)
logging industries,[9][10] and its political and labor delegation 2: Alex Mooney (R) (list)
history. It is also known for its tourism[9] and a
Area
wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities,
• Total 24,230 sq mi
including skiing, whitewater rafting, fishing, (62,755 km2)
hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, rock • Land 24,078 sq mi
climbing, and hunting. From the Great Depression (62,361 km2)
to the 1990s, the state voted heavily for the • Water 152 sq mi (394 km2)
Democratic Party due to its tradition of union- 0.6%
based politics. Since then, the state has become • Rank 41st
heavily Republican, and is considered a "deep red" Dimensions
state at the federal level.[11] • Length 240 mi (385 km)
• Width 130 mi (210 km)
Other nominated names for the state included
Elevation 1,513 ft (461 m)
Vandalia, Kanawha, Appalachia, and Western
Highest elevation 4,863 ft (1,482 m)
Virginia. The capital was originally Wheeling, (Spruce
before switching to Charleston, moving back to Knob[1][2][note 1])
Wheeling, and finally back to Charleston. The first Lowest elevation 240 ft (73 m)
governor was Arthur Boreman. (Potomac River at
Virginia border[2][note 1])

History Population (2020)

• Total 1,793,716[3]
Many ancient manmade earthen mounds from • Rank 39th
various prehistoric mound builder cultures survive • Density 77/sq mi (29.8/km2)
in West Virginia, especially in the areas of present- • Rank 29th
day Moundsville, South Charleston, and Romney. • Median household $43,469[4]
Artifacts uncovered in these give evidence of income
village societies with a tribal trade system culture • Income rank 49th
that crafted cold-worked copper pieces. Demonyms West Virginian,
Mountaineer
In the 1670s, during the Beaver Wars, the powerful Language
Iroquois, five allied nations based in present-day • Official language De jure: English
New York and Pennsylvania, drove out other
Time zone UTC−05:00 (Eastern)
American Indian tribes from the region to reserve
• Summer (DST) UTC−04:00 (EDT)
the upper Ohio Valley as a hunting ground. Siouan
language tribes, such as the Moneton, had USPS abbreviation WV
previously been among the earliest recorded in the ISO 3166 code US-WV
area. Conflicts with European settlers resulted in Traditional W.Va. and W.V.
various displaced Indian tribes settling in West abbreviation
Virginia, where they were known as Mingo, Latitude 37°12′ N to 40°39′ N
meaning "remote affiliates of the Iroquois Longitude 77°43′ W to 82°39′ W
Confederacy".[12] Website wv.gov (http://wv.gov)

The area now identified as West Virginia was Symbols of West Virginia
contested territory among Anglo-Americans as
Slogan "Wild and Wonderful"
well, with the colonies of Pennsylvania and "Open for Business"
Virginia claiming territorial rights under their (former)
colonial charters to this area before the American "Almost Heaven"
Revolutionary War. Some speculative land Song "Take Me Home, Country
Roads"

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companies, such as the Vandalia Company,[13]

the "The West Virginia Hills"
"West Virginia, My Home
Ohio Company and the Indiana Company, tried
Sweet Home" "
but failed to legitimize their claims to land in parts "This Is My West
of West Virginia and present-day Kentucky. This Virginia"
rivalry resulted in some settlers petitioning the Bird Northern cardinal
Continental Congress to create a new territory (Cardinalis cardinalis)
called Westsylvania. With the federal settlement of Butterfly Monarch butterfly
(Danaus plexippus)
the Pennsylvania and Virginia border dispute, Fish Brook trout
creating Kentucky County, Virginia, Kentuckians (Salvelinus fontinalis)
"were satisfied [...] and the inhabitants of a large Flower Rhododendron
part of West Virginia were grateful."[14] (Rhododendron
maximum)
The Crown considered the area of West Virginia Insect Western honey bee
(Apis mellifera)
part of the British Virginia Colony from 1607 to
Mammal Black bear
1776. The United States considered this area the (Ursus americanus)
western part of the state of Virginia (commonly Reptile Timber rattlesnake
called Trans-Allegheny Virginia) from 1776 to (Crotalus horridus)
1863, before West Virginia's formation. Its Tree Sugar maple
residents were discontented for years with their (Acer saccharum)
position in Virginia, as the government was Color(s) Old gold and blue
Food Golden Delicious apple
dominated by the planter elite of the Tidewater
(Malus domestica)
and Piedmont areas. The legislature had electoral Fossil Jefferson's ground sloth
malapportionment, based on the counting of (Megalonyx jeffersonii)
slaves toward regional populations, and western Gemstone Silicified Mississippian
white residents were underrepresented in the state fossil coral
(Lithostrotionella)
legislature. More subsistence and yeoman farmers
Rock Coal
lived in the west, and they were generally less
Tartan West Virginia Shawl
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 Pierpont
in 1861, which they called the 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 disenfranchised those who had held
Confederate office or fought for the Confederacy.

West Virginia's history has been profoundly affected by its mountainous terrain, numerous and vast
river valleys, and rich natural resources. These were all factors driving its economy and the lifestyles
of its residents, who tended to live in many small, relatively isolated communities in the mountain
valleys.

Prehistory
A 2010 analysis of a local stalagmite revealed that Native Americans were burning forests to clear
land as early as 100 BCE.[15] Some regional late-prehistoric Eastern Woodland tribes were more
involved in hunting and fishing, practicing the Eastern Agricultural Complex gardening method
which used fire to clear out underbrush from certain areas. Another group progressed to the more

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time-consuming, advanced companion crop fields method of gardening. Also continuing from the
ancient Indigenous people of the state, they cultivated tobacco through to early historic times. It was
used in numerous social and religious rituals.

"Maize (corn) did not make a substantial contribution to the diet until after 1150 BP", to quote Mills
(OSU 2003). Eventually, tribal villages began depending on corn to feed their turkey flocks, as
Kanawha Fort Ancients practiced bird husbandry. The local Indians made cornbread and a flat rye
bread called "bannock" as they emerged from the protohistoric era. A horizon extending from a little
before the early 18th century is sometimes called the acculturating Fireside Cabin culture. Trading
posts were established by European traders along the Potomac and James rivers.

Tribes that inhabited West Virginia as of 1600 were the Siouan Monongahela Culture to the north,
the Fort Ancient culture along the Ohio River from the Monongahela to Kentucky and extending an
unknown distance inland,[16] and the Eastern Siouan Tutelo and Moneton tribes in the southeast.
There was also the Iroquoian Susquehannock in the region approximately east of the Monongahela
River and north of the Monongahela National Forest, a possible tribe called the Senandoa, or
Shenandoah, in the Shenandoah Valley and the easternmost tip of the state may have been home to
the Manahoac people. The Monongahela may have been the same as a people known as the Calicua,
or Cali.[17] The following may have also all been the same tribe—Moneton, Moheton, Senandoa,
Tomahitan.

During the Beaver Wars, other tribes moved into the region. The Iroquoian Tiontatecaga (also Little
Mingo, Guyandotte)[18] seem to have split off from the Petun after they were defeated by the
Iroquois. They eventually settled somewhere between the Kanawha and Little Kanawha Rivers.
During the 1750s, when the Mingo Seneca seceded from the Iroquois and returned to the Ohio River
Valley, they contend that this tribe merged with them. The Shawnee arrived as well; though primarily
stationed within former Monongahela territory approximately until 1750, they extended their
influence throughout the Ohio River region. They were West Virginia's last Native tribe and were
driven out by the United States during the Shawnee Wars (1811–1813). The Erie, who were chased
out of Ohio around 1655, are now believed to be the same as the Westo, who invaded as far as South
Carolina before being destroyed in the 1680s. If so, their path would have brought them through
West Virginia. The historical movement of the Tutelo[19] and carbon dating of the Fort Ancients seem
to correspond with the given period of 1655–1670 as the time of their removal.[16] The
Susquehannocks were original participants in the Beaver Wars but were cut off from the Ohio River
by the Iroquois around 1630 and found themselves in dire straits. Suffering from disease and
constant warfare and unable to provide for themselves financially, they began to collapse and moved
further and further east, to the Susquehanna River of Eastern Pennsylvania.[20] The Manahoac were
probably forced out in the 1680s when the Iroquois began to invade Virginia.[21] The Siouan tribes
there moved into North Carolina and later returned as one tribe, known as the Eastern Blackfoot, or
Christannas.[22]

The Westo did not secure the territory they conquered. Even before they were gone, displaced natives
from the south flooded into freshly conquered regions and took them over.[23] These became known
as the Shattaras, or West Virginia Cherokees. They took in and merged with the Monetons, who
began to call themselves the Mohetons. The Calicua also began to call themselves Cherokees soon
after, showing an apparent further merger. These Shattaras were closely related to the tribes that
formed to the south in the aftermath of the Westo—the Yuchi and Cherokee. From 1715 to 1717, the
Yamasee War sprang up. The Senandoa allegedly sided with the Yuchi and were destroyed by

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Yamasee allies.[24]
Therefore, if the Senandoa were the same tribe as the Moneton, this would mean
the collapse of Shattara-Moneton culture. Another tribe that appeared in the region was the
Canaragay, or Kanawha.[25] It later migrated to Maryland and merged into colonial culture.

European exploration and settlement

In 1671, General Abraham Wood, at the direction of Royal Governor
William Berkeley of the Virginia Colony, sent a party from Fort Henry
led by Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam to survey this territory. They
were the first Europeans recorded as discovering Kanawha Falls. Some
sources state that Governor Alexander Spotswood's 1716 Knights of the
Golden Horseshoe Expedition (for which the state's Golden Horseshoe
Competition for 8th graders is named) had penetrated as far as
Pendleton County, but modern historians interpret the original accounts
of the excursion as suggesting that none of the expedition's horsemen
ventured much farther west of the Blue Ridge Mountains than
Harrisonburg, Virginia. John Van Metre, an Indian trader, penetrated
into the northern portion in 1725. The same year, German settlers from Thomas Lee, the first
manager of the Ohio
Pennsylvania founded New Mecklenburg, the present Shepherdstown,
Company of Virginia
on the Potomac River, and others followed.[26]

King Charles II of England, in 1661, granted to a company of gentlemen the land between the
Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, known as the Northern Neck. Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax
of Cameron ultimately took possession of this grant, and in 1746 a stone was erected at the source of
the North Branch Potomac River to mark his grant's western limit. George Washington surveyed a
considerable part of this land between 1748 and 1751. His diary recorded that there were already
many squatters, largely of German origin, along the South Branch Potomac River.[27]

Christopher Gist, a surveyor in the employ of the first Ohio Company, which was composed chiefly of
Virginians, explored the country along the Ohio River north of the mouth of the Kanawha River
between 1751 and 1752. The company sought to have a 14th colony established with the name
"Vandalia". Many settlers crossed the mountains after 1750, though they were hindered by Native
American resistance. Few Native Americans lived permanently within the state's present limits, but
the region was a common hunting ground, crossed by many trails. During the French and Indian
War (the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe), Indian allies of the French nearly
destroyed the scattered British settlements.[28]

Shortly before the American Revolutionary War, in 1774 Crown Governor of Virginia John Murray,
4th Earl of Dunmore, led a force over the mountains. A body of militia under then-Colonel Andrew
Lewis dealt the Shawnee Indians, under Hokoleskwa (or "Cornstalk"), a crushing blow during the
Battle of Point Pleasant at the junction of the Kanawha and the Ohio rivers.[28] At the Treaty of Camp
Charlotte concluding Dunmore's War, Cornstalk agreed to recognize the Ohio River as the new
boundary with the "Long Knives". But by 1776 the Shawnee returned to war, joining the
Chickamauga, a band of Cherokee known for the area where they lived. Native American attacks on
settlers continued until after the American Revolutionary War. During the war, the settlers in

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