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Seceding from Secession

Written by: Eric J. Wittenberg, Edmund A. Sargus Jr., Penny L. Barrick
Narrated by: David Stifel
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Publisher's Summary

"West Virginia was the child of the storm," concluded early Mountaineer historian and Civil War veteran Maj. Theodore F. Lang. The northwestern third of the Commonwealth of Virginia finally broke away in 1863 to form the Union's 35th state. In Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia, authors Eric J. Wittenberg, Edmund A. Sargus, and Penny L. Barrick chronicle those events in an unprecedented study of the social, legal, military, and political factors that converged to bring about the birth of the West Virginia.

President Abraham Lincoln, an astute lawyer in his own right, played a critical role in birthing the new state. The constitutionality of the mechanism by which the new state would be created concerned the president, and he polled every member of his entire cabinet before signing the bill. Seceding from Secession includes a detailed discussion of the 1871 US Supreme Court decision Virginia v. West Virginia, in which former Lincoln cabinet member Salmon Chase presided as chief justice over the court that decided the constitutionality of the momentous event.
©2020 Eric J. Wittenberg, Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. and Penny Barrick (P)2021 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
Wars & Conflicts United States
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Profile Image for Robin Bellamy

Real Facts for a Change

I was born and raised on the Ohio side of West Virginia and have worked genealogy for most of ,my 60 years. I knew most of the facts in this book-they have done serious, thorough research. What makes this special it is presented with sources and actual words from people who lived at the time. All in one collection, it gives evidence of how slavery REALLY was involved in this event and how few people orchestrated it.

I have many friends who will argue that it was a moral issue. They would argue that WV was never a "southern" or "confederate" state. They will say that the people were happy to leave Virginia "rule" and completely supported it. At some point someone rewrote history. There is truth in this book that will teach a different reality.

It also explains quite a lot about decades of union issues (work union, not northern union). It's going to upset those who think things were different. We haven't been taught this stuff in school because the truth is uncomfortable by today's culture.

Read/listen to this book and encourage everyone who cares about the state to do the same.

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