My View: Secession is a Bad Idea for Northern Counties
When the State of Virginia seceded from the union just prior to the Civil War, the northwestern counties of the state disagreed and felt that the sitting Virginia Government had acted illegally in seceding from the Union.
West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. West Virginia is the only state in the Union to have acquired its sovereignty by proclamation of the President of the United States. Statehood was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln.