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==Secession timeline== ==Secession timeline==

===Call for secession convention=== ===Call for secession convention===
On January 7, 1861 the Virginia General Assembly called a special session to consider the creation of a secession convention. This convention was approved on January 14, and was almost immediately followed by a movement called the ] on January 19, led by Virginia's former President of the United States, ]. Elections were then held on February 4, effectively creating a pro-Union convention body. Simultaneous to this election, six Southern states seceded to form the ] on ]. On January 7, 1861 the Virginia General Assembly called a special session to consider the creation of a secession convention. This convention was approved on January 14, and was almost immediately followed by a movement called the ] on January 19, led by Virginia's former President of the United States, ]. Elections were then held on February 4, effectively creating a pro-Union convention body. Simultaneous to this election, six Southern states seceded to form the ] on ].


===Secession convention=== ===Secession convention===
] held a popular election for delegates to the secession convention on February 4, 1861, electing a pro-Union majority. The Virginia Secession Convention first convened on February 13, 1861, led by former President John Tyler and former Virginia governor Henry Wise. The convention deliberated for several months and on April 4, the convention met and voted against ]. But events took a sudden turn on April 12, when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter, followed on April 15 by ] ]'s call for "75,000 militiamen into national service for ninety days to put down an insurrection 'too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.'"<ref>McPherson p. 274</ref> The state reacted to the attack and victory at Fort Sumter even before Lincoln's call for troops.<ref>McPherson p. 278</ref> A Richmond newspaper described the scene in Richmond on the 13th: ] held a popular election for delegates to the secession convention on ], 1861, electing a pro-Union majority. The Virginia Secession Convention first convened on ], ], led by former President John Tyler and former Virginia governor Henry Wise. The convention deliberated for several months and on ], the convention met and voted against ]. But events took a sudden turn when on ], the ] ] called for a 75,000-man army to invade the "rebelling" states. Sentiment in Virginia immediatley shifted and the Virginia Secession Convention reconvened and voted on ], provisionally, to secede, on the condition of ratification by a statewide referendum. Intially the vote was 88 to 55 in favor of secession<ref>"Virginia's Decision", Virginia Civil War Commission, Richmond, 1964, pg. 11</ref>, but after a second roll call, the final vote tally was 103 to 46 in favor of secession. Among those in favor of secession was former U.S. President ], and among those against secession was ].<ref>ibid., pgs. 14-15</ref> However, after the formal vote delegates were allowed to change their votes, the final tally became 103 to 46 in favor of secession.<ref>Randall, p.?</ref> Immediately following this proposal to secede, and predicting the likely outcome of the popular vote for ratification, the ], in a controversial action, evacuated and abandoned ] and the Gosport Navy Yard there on ], burning and torching as many of the ships and facilities as possible, while Colonel ] resigned his U.S. Army commission, turning down an offer of command for the U.S. Army.


===Secession ratification===
{{quote|Saturday night the offices of the Dispatch, Enquirer and Examiner, the banking house of Enders, Sutton & Co., the Edgemont House, and sundry other public and private places, testified to the general joy by brilliant illuminations.
By popular vote, Virginians ratified the articles of secession on ], 1861 with a vote of 132,201 to 37,451 in favor of, and ratifying the seccesion proposal. The results were initially held in secret for a couple of days, giving Virginia military forces time to officially respond in the defenses of Virginia, by making final preparation for the defense of Virginia.


After notification of the election results by telegram, Colonel Thomas J. ] moved to shut down the ] in the ]. The following day, the ] moved into northern Virginia and captured ] without a fight.
Hardly less than ten thousand persons were on Main street, between 8th and 14th, at one time. Speeches were delivered at the Spottswood House, at the Dispatch corner, in front of the Enquirer office, at the Exchange Hotel, and other places. Bonfires were lighted at nearly every corner of every principal street in the city, and the light of beacon fires could be seen burning on Union and Church Hills. The effect of the illumination was grand and imposing. The triumph of truth and justice over wrong and attempted insult was never more heartily appreciated by a spontaneous uprising of the people. Soon the Southern wind will sweep away with the resistless force of a tornado, all vestige of sympathy or desire of co-operation with a tyrant who, under false pretences, in the name of a once glorious, but now broken and destroyed Union, attempts to rivet on us the chains of a despicable and ignoble vassalage. Virginia is moving.<ref>Richmond Daily Dispatch April 15, 1861 http://imls.richmond.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ddr;cc=ddr;view=text;idno=ddr0141.0019.087;rgn=div3;node=ddr0141.0019.087%3A3.2.1</ref>}}


Pending the outcome of the ratification election, on ] provisional plans were made to move the Confederate capital from ] to Richmond. Once the ratification was made official, the move of the capital to Virginia was enacted on ].
The Virginia Secession Convention reconvened on ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vahistorical.org/onthisday/21361.htm |title=On This Day: Legislative Moments in Virginia History |publisher=Virginia Historical Society}}</ref> and voted on April 17, provisionally, to secede, on the condition of ratification by a statewide referendum. Initially the vote was 88 to 55 in favor of secession<ref>"Virginia's Decision", Virginia Civil War Commission, Richmond, 1964, pg. 11</ref>
Among those in favor of secession was former U.S. President ], and among those against secession was ].<ref>ibid., pgs. 14-15</ref> However, after the formal vote delegates were allowed to change their votes, the final tally became 103 to 46 in favor of secession.<ref>ibid., pgs. 14-15</ref> Historian Edward L. Ayers, who felt that "even Fort Sumter might have passed, however, had Lincoln not called for the arming of volunteers",<ref>Ayers p. 140</ref> wrote of the convention's final decision:


===Secession ratification===
{{quote|The decision came from what seemed to many white Virginians the unavoidable logic of the situation: Virginia was a slave state; the Republicans had announced their intention of limiting slavery; slavery was protected by the sovereignty of the state; an attack on that sovereignty by military force was an assault on the freedom of property and political representation that sovereignty embodied. When the federal government protected the freedom and future of slavery by recognizing the sovereignty of the states, Virginia's Unionists could tolerate the insult the Republicans represented; when the federal government rejected that sovereignty, the threat could no longer be denied even by those who loved the Union.<ref>Ayers p. 141</ref>}}
By popular vote, Virginians ratified the articles of secession on ], 1861 with a vote of 132,201 to 37,451 in favor of, and ratifying the seccesion proposal. The results were initially held in secret for a couple of days, giving Virginia military forces time to officially respond in the defenses of Virginia, by making final preparation for the defense of Virginia.


After notification of the election results by telegram, Colonel Thomas J. ] moved to shut down the ] in the ]. The following day, the ] moved into northern Virginia and captured ] without a fight.
Former Governor Henry Wise had arranged with militia officers on April 16, before the final vote, to seize the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry and the Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk. On April 17 in the debate over secession Wise announced to the convention that these events were already in motion. On April 18 the arsenal was captured and most of the machinery was moved to Richmond. At Gosport, the ], believing that several thousand militia were headed their way, evacuated and abandoned ] and the navy yard, burning and torching as many of the ships and facilities as possible. <ref>McPherson p. 279-280</ref>


Pending the outcome of the ratification election, on ] provisional plans were made to move the Confederate capital from ] to Richmond. Once the ratification was made official, the move of the capital to Virginia was enacted on ].
Colonel ] resigned his U.S. Army commission, turning down an offer of command for the U.S. Army.


===Secession ratification=== ===Secession ratification===

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Prewar tensions

On October 16, 1859, the radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 22 men in a raid on the Federal Arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Federal troops, led by Robert E. Lee, responded and quelled the raid. Subsequently, John Brown was tried and executed by hanging in Charles Town on December 2, 1859. On June 26, 1860 Southern Democrats held their convention in Richmond, Virginia and nominated John C. Breckinridge as their party candidate for President.

Secession timeline

Call for secession convention

On January 7, 1861 the Virginia General Assembly called a special session to consider the creation of a secession convention. This convention was approved on January 14, and was almost immediately followed by a movement called the Peace Conference of 1861 on January 19, led by Virginia's former President of the United States, John Tyler. Elections were then held on February 4, effectively creating a pro-Union convention body. Simultaneous to this election, six Southern states seceded to form the Confederate States of America on February 4.

Secession convention

Virginia held a popular election for delegates to the secession convention on February 4, 1861, electing a pro-Union majority. The Virginia Secession Convention first convened on February 13, 1861, led by former President John Tyler and former Virginia governor Henry Wise. The convention deliberated for several months and on April 4, the convention met and voted against secession. But events took a sudden turn when on 15 April, the President Abraham Lincoln called for a 75,000-man army to invade the "rebelling" states. Sentiment in Virginia immediatley shifted and the Virginia Secession Convention reconvened and voted on 17 April, provisionally, to secede, on the condition of ratification by a statewide referendum. Intially the vote was 88 to 55 in favor of secession, but after a second roll call, the final vote tally was 103 to 46 in favor of secession. Among those in favor of secession was former U.S. President John Tyler, and among those against secession was Jubal Early. However, after the formal vote delegates were allowed to change their votes, the final tally became 103 to 46 in favor of secession. Immediately following this proposal to secede, and predicting the likely outcome of the popular vote for ratification, the Union Navy, in a controversial action, evacuated and abandoned Norfolk, Virginia and the Gosport Navy Yard there on April 20, burning and torching as many of the ships and facilities as possible, while Colonel Robert E. Lee resigned his U.S. Army commission, turning down an offer of command for the U.S. Army.

Secession ratification

By popular vote, Virginians ratified the articles of secession on May 23, 1861 with a vote of 132,201 to 37,451 in favor of, and ratifying the seccesion proposal. The results were initially held in secret for a couple of days, giving Virginia military forces time to officially respond in the defenses of Virginia, by making final preparation for the defense of Virginia.

After notification of the election results by telegram, Colonel Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson moved to shut down the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the Great Train Raid of 1861. The following day, the Union army moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight.

Pending the outcome of the ratification election, on May 6 provisional plans were made to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond. Once the ratification was made official, the move of the capital to Virginia was enacted on May 29.

Secession ratification

By popular vote, Virginians ratified the articles of secession on May 23, 1861 with a vote of 132,201 to 37,451 in favor of, and ratifying the seccesion proposal. The results were initially held in secret for a couple of days, giving Virginia military forces time to officially respond in the defenses of Virginia, by making final preparation for the defense of Virginia.

After notification of the election results by telegram, Colonel Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson moved to shut down the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the Great Train Raid of 1861. The following day, the Union army moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight.

Pending the outcome of the ratification election, on May 6 provisional plans were made to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond. Once the ratification was made official, the move of the capital to Virginia was enacted on May 29.

Secession ratification

By popular vote, Virginians ratified the articles of secession on May 23, 1861 with a vote of 132,201 to 37,451 in favor of, and ratifying the seccesion proposal. The results were initially held in secret for a couple of days, giving Virginia military forces time to officially respond in the defenses of Virginia, by making final preparation for the defense of Virginia.

After notification of the election results by telegram, Colonel Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson moved to shut down the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the Great Train Raid of 1861. The following day, the Union army moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight.

Pending the outcome of the ratification election, on May 6 provisional plans were made to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond. Once the ratification was made official, the move of the capital to Virginia was enacted on May 29.

Virginia during the war

The ensuing conflict was generally referred to by notable Virginias as "The War Between the States", as in the title of the 1904 book The Confederate Cause and Conduct in the War Between the States, published by Dr. Hunter McGuire and George L. Christian. The first major battle of the Civil War occurred on July 21, 1861. Union forces attempted to take control of the railroad junction at Manassas for use as a supply line, but the Confederate Army had moved its forces by train to meet the Union. The Confederates won the First Battle of Manassas (known as "Bull Run"in Northern naming convention) and the year went on without a major fight.

The first and last significant battles were held in Virginia. The first being the Battle of Manassas and the last being Battle of Appomattox Courthouse. During the American Civil War, Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States of America. The White House of the Confederacy, located a few blocks north of the State Capital, was home to the family of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

In April 1865, Richmond was burned by a retreating Confederate Army and was returned to Northern control. Virginia was administered as the "First Military District" during the Reconstruction period (1865-1870) under General John Schofield. Local rule was reestablished on October 5, 1869. On January 26, 1870, when the U.S. Congress approved a new Virginia constitution, Virginia's representatives membership to the Congress was restored. This has been traditionally known as the "readmittance" of the Commonwealth of Virginia to the United States.

Industrialization

File:VrgaGvrnMnsn.jpg
The Virginia Governor's mansion in 1865.

Various textile production was present prior to 1861 but nothing of great significance. A center of iron production during the civil war was located in Richmond at Tredegar Iron Works. Tredegar was run partially by slave labor, and it produced most of the artillery for the war, making Richmond an important point to defend.

West Virginia split

See also: West Virginia in the Civil War

The 47 delegates from what eventually became West Virginia voted 32 to 15 against secession. Some of those delegates and other Unionists in western Virginia formed an alternative government, the Restored Government of Virginia, in the city of Wheeling. On August 20 1861 this government granted itself permission to form a new state, eventually named West Virginia, and presented an application for statehood to the U.S. Congress which consisted of 48 counties of Virginia, nearly half of which had voted for secession. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia was formally admitted to the Union. Two more counties were added in 1863, Jefferson and Berkeley. These had not been part of the original Statehood bill, and Virginia attempted reclamation in a suit before the United States Supreme Court. In December, 1870, the court ruled in favor of West Virginia.

With the formation of West Virginia, Virginia no longer shared a border with Pennsylvania. Even in the 20th century, there were still some disputes about the precise location of the border in some of the northern mountain reaches of Virginia between Loudoun County and Jefferson County, West Virginia. In 1991, both state legislatures appropriated money for a boundary commission to look into 15 miles of the border area .

Notable Civil War leaders (Confederate) from Virginia

Notes

  1. "Virginia's Decision", Virginia Civil War Commission, Richmond, 1964, pg. 11
  2. ibid., pgs. 14-15
  3. Randall, p.?
  4. Ambler, p. 309
  5. Curry, pgs. 141-149
  6. Lewis, pgs. 190-192

References

  • Ambler, Charles, A History of West Virginia, Prentice-Hall, 1933.
  • Ayers, Edward L. In the Presence of Mine Enemies: The Civil War in the Heart of America 1859-1863. (2003) ISBN 0-393-32601-2.
  • Curry, Richard Orr, A House Divided, University of Pittsburgh, 1964.
  • Hodges, Vivienne, PhD, Virginia SOL Coach: Virginia Studies, Educational Design, 1999. ISBN 087694764X
  • Lewis, Virgil A. and Comstock, Jim, History and Government of West Virginia, 1973.
  • McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom. (1988) ISBN 0-345-35942-9.
  • Randall, J. G., Civil War and Reconstruction, D.C. Heath and Company, 1966.

See also

External links


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