West Virginia never secedes from Virginia

Take a look at this:

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=8415.0

How would American history have unfolded if the US and Confederate governments ruled that WV couldn't break off from Virginia (US explanation: we still own the state so the Constitution applies so existing states can't be broken up, CS explanation: we own it and don't want to lose it).

At the very minimum, as time went on, we'd have WV forced to VA's allegiance in the Electoral College because presumably VA's population is much higher than WV's so they'd probably dominate Virginia's population (though I haven't checked this).

Another possibility is this: WV secedes during the Civil War and is glommed back onto the state by the Union after the war.

ACG
 
Just to note that the USSC settled this in Virginia v. West Virginia [1], as noted in your source discussion. Essentially, the Restored Government of Virginia gave consent.

Had it gone the other way, WV would likely have seen a great deal more destruction. Also, rather than Confederate guerrillas, one might expect to see pro-Unionist partisans. This was "Mountain Yankee" territory, after all.
 
I had something like this happen in the AHN Universe, except that Virginia did not sucede in 1861, and had its Union government overthrown in 1882 instead. Anyway, during the Great War, the American conquered a great deal of Virginia, and divided it along a line that follows the Appalacheans in the west until it hits the Rappahannock River. Lands west and north of these barriers becomes the United State of Lincoln.
 
I was thinking about something like this a few weeks ago. Could the US Congress have refused to recognize West Virginia as a state but agreed to recognize the leaders (governor, legislators & members of Congress) of the would-be state as the legal government of Virginia?

[RANT] Off topic:
Why doesn't anyone call this break-away portion of Virginia by some other name, like Allegheny or Kanawha in their TL's? Either is just as likely to have been chosen as West Virginia - and would be more creative as well (like the kiat did in his).[/RANT]
 
Recognizing the West Virginians as the legitimate government of the whole state seems like something easy to butterfly into an ACW timeline without changing much else. In that case, though, doesn't Virginia dodge Reconstruction? Hmmm. That could be why it doesn't face strong opposition from "East" Virginia, actually.

While "East" Virginia does tend to have a higher population, West Virginians and freedmen together make for a power bloc the former rebels aren't going to easily break.
 
What about having some Whigs leave Richmond in the aftermath of Virginia's voting to secede and setting up a State government in exile in WV? That'd be pretty cool...
 
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