SECTIONALISM AND THE STATEHOOD MOVEMENT

Themes:

• debate over internal improvements in Virginia

• evolution of western grievances

• moral, legal, and political debates over slavery and suffrage

• the secession crisis

• the new state movement

• the statehood process and constitutional debates

• formation of the Restored Government of Virginia

• West Virginia statehood

People, Places, Terms, and Events:

• John G. Jackson

• Henry Ruffner

• Alexander Campbell

• John Brown

• Abraham Lincoln

• John S. Carlile

• Waitman T. Willey

• Francis H. Pierpont

• Edward Bates

• Salmon P. Chase

• Arthur I. Boreman

• Staunton Convention

• Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830

• Ruffner Pamphlet

• Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851

• trial of John Brown

• Virginia's secession ordinance

• Clarksburg Convention

• First and Second Wheeling Conventions

• the Restored Government of Virginia

• statehood bill and Willey amendment

Study Questions:

1. What were the major grievances of western Virginians between 1803-1861? How did they propose that their grievances be resolved? What was the position of Virginia's other sections on these issues?

2. How was the slavery debate argued in the Trans-Allegheny? On what grounds did opponents of slavery base their arguments? What effect did the Fugitive Slave Law have on the west?

3. How did Waitman T. Willey analyze the secession issue in his part of Virginia? What were his recommendations for the northwest if Virginia seceded?

4. What were the constitutional concerns facing Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet regarding the Restored Government and statehood for West Virginia? What were the recommendations of Secretaries Bates and Chase to the President, and on what grounds were they based? How did Lincoln resolve the issue?