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124-606: The plateau extends southward into western West Virginia , eastern Kentucky , and Tennessee , where it is instead called the Cumberland Plateau . The plateau terminates in the east at the Allegheny Mountains , which are the highest ridges just west of the Allegheny Front . The Front extends from central Pennsylvania through Maryland and into eastern West Virginia. The plateau is bordered on

248-569: A civil engineer and mining manager in Fayette County . Former West Virginia governor William A. MacCorkle described him as a man who knew the land "as a farmer knows a field". Beginning in 1898, Page teamed with northern and European-based investors to take advantage of the undeveloped area. They acquired large tracts of land in the area, and Page began the Deepwater Railway , a short-line railroad chartered to stretch between

372-687: A company of gentlemen the land between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, known as the Northern Neck . Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron ultimately took possession of this grant, and in 1746 a stone was erected at the source of the North Branch Potomac River to mark his grant's western limit. George Washington surveyed a considerable part of this land between 1748 and 1751. His diary recorded that there were already many squatters, largely of German origin, along

496-531: A compromise demanded by the Kanawha region (Charleston lawyers Benjamin Smith and Brown) allowed counties and municipalities to vote subsidies for railroads or other improvement organizations. The resulting instrument was ratified (18,162 for and 514 against) on April 11, 1862. On May 13, 1862, the state legislature of the reorganized government approved the formation of the new state. An application for admission to

620-519: A constitution for the new state, beginning on November 26, 1861. During that constitutional convention, a Mr. Lamb of Ohio County and a Mr. Carskadon claimed that in Hampshire County, out of 195 votes only 39 were cast by citizens of the state; the rest were cast illegally by Union soldiers. One of the key figures was Gordon Battelle , who also represented Ohio County, and who proposed resolutions to establish public schools, as well as to limit

744-565: A constitutional convention met in Richmond to consider reforms to Virginia's outdated constitution. Philip Doddridge of Brooke County championed the cause of western Virginians who sought a more democratic frame of government, but western reforms were rejected by leaders from east of the Alleghenies who "clung to political power in an effort to preserve their plantation lifestyles dependent on enslaving blacks". Virginia leaders maintained

868-531: A convention to meet in Wheeling on May 13, 1861. When this First Wheeling Convention met, 425 delegates from 25 counties were present, though more than one-third of the delegates were from the northern panhandle area. Soon there was a division of sentiment. Some delegates led by pro-Union slaveowner John S. Carlile favored the immediate formation of a new state, while others led by Waitman Willey argued that, as Virginia's secession had not yet been passed by

992-541: A distinct culture region, with distinct ancestry, dialect, cuisine, and other characteristics. The heavily rhotacized Upland Southern dialect, still predominates in much of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and portions of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Missouri. Noticeable influence can even be found in parts of the Lower South, such as northern Georgia and northern Alabama. Cities as far north as Cincinnati carry noticeable dialect influence as well. As

1116-624: A flat rye bread called "bannock" as they emerged from the protohistoric era. A horizon extending from a little before the early 18th century is sometimes called the acculturating Fireside Cabin culture . Trading posts were established by European traders along the Potomac and James rivers . Tribes that inhabited West Virginia as of 1600 were the Siouan Monongahela Culture to the north, the Fort Ancient culture along

1240-438: A fourth of the registered voters cast votes. In most of what would become West Virginia, there was no vote at all, as two-thirds of the territory of West Virginia had voted for secession, and county officers remained loyal to Richmond. Votes recorded from pro-secession counties were mostly cast elsewhere by Unionist refugees from these counties. Despite that controversy, delegates (including many Methodist ministers) met to write

1364-720: A joint resolution recognizing the transfer. The Supreme Court decided in West Virginia's favor in 1870. The original charters for Maryland and Virginia were silent as to which branch of the upper Potomac was the boundary. This was settled by the 1785 Mount Vernon Conference . Nevertheless, when West Virginia seceded from Virginia, Maryland claimed West Virginia land north of the South Branch (all of Mineral and Grant Counties and parts of Hampshire , Hardy , Tucker and Pendleton Counties). The Supreme Court rejected these claims in two separate decisions in 1910. During

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1488-477: A major role in establishing the political and social culture, such as the Black Laws of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Throughout the 19th century, the population percentage of Upland Southerners fell, especially as large numbers of native-born Midwesterners joined the population. The Deep South is generally associated historically with cotton production. By 1850, the term "Cotton States" was in common use, and

1612-509: A popular vote on the formation of a new state and for a convention to frame a constitution if the vote were favorable. In the October 24, 1861, election, 18,408 votes were cast for the new state and 781 against. The election results were questioned since the Union army then occupied the area and Union troops were stationed at many of the polls to prevent Confederate sympathizers from voting. This

1736-486: A property qualification for suffrage , effectively disenfranchising poorer farmers in the west whose families did much of the farm work themselves. In addition, the 1829–30 convention gave slaveholding counties the benefit of three-fifths of their slave population in apportioning the state's representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a result, every county west of the Alleghenies except one voted to reject

1860-640: A provision for the gradual abolition of slavery be inserted in its constitution (as Battelle had urged in the Wheeling Intelligencer and also written to Lincoln). While many felt West Virginia's admission as a state was both illegal and unconstitutional, Lincoln issued his Opinion on the Admission of West Virginia finding that "the body which consents to the admission of West Virginia is the Legislature of Virginia", and that its admission

1984-585: A region called the Mid-South . It also doesn't include the coastal lowlands of North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, located in the Tidewater region. Despite these differences, the two terms, Upland South and Upper South, refer to the same general region—the northern part of the American South—and are frequently used synonymously. The corresponding terms, Lower South and Deep South, similarly refer to

2108-560: A result of the difference in the use of slaves, the boundary between the Upland South and Deep South can still be seen today on maps showing the population percentage of African-Americans. The term Black Belt originally referred to a region of black soil in Alabama that was especially fertile for cotton farming and has a high percentage of African-Americans. In contrast, the Upland South was less involved with large-scale slavery, and

2232-652: A result, though half the counties of the new state were still secessionist, and partisan warfare continued throughout the war. Kentucky and Missouri for the most part remained in the Union , though they were both claimed by the Confederacy and had dual competing Confederate governments in the form of the Confederate government of Kentucky and the Confederate government of Missouri , and were torn by internal strife. The Confederacy controlled more than half of Kentucky and

2356-618: A rival state government and two U.S. senators (Willey and Carlile) to replace secessionists before adjourning. The federal government promptly recognized the new government and seated the two new senators. Thus there were two state governments in Virginia: one pledging allegiance to the United States and one to the Confederacy . The second Wheeling Convention had recessed until August 6, then reassembled on August 20 and called for

2480-530: A tribal trade system culture that crafted cold-worked copper pieces. In the 1670s, during the Beaver Wars , the powerful Iroquois , five allied nations based in present-day New York and Pennsylvania, drove out other Native American tribes from the region to reserve the upper Ohio Valley as a hunting ground. Siouan language tribes, such as the Moneton , had previously been among the earliest recorded in

2604-575: A whole, but in the western counties 34,677 voted against and 19,121 voted for the ordinance. The Second Wheeling Convention met as agreed on June 11 and declared that, since the Secession Convention had been called without popular consent, all its acts were void and all who adhered to it had vacated their offices. The Wheeling Conventions, and the delegates themselves, were never actually elected by public ballot to act on behalf of western Virginia. Of its 103 members, 33 had been elected to

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2728-628: Is Charleston with a population of 49,055. West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the American Civil War . It was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, one of two states (along with Nevada ) admitted to the Union during the Civil War, and the second state to separate from another state, after Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were yeoman farmers, and

2852-501: Is bituminous coal , and the official state gemstone is silicified Mississippian fossil Lithostrotionella coral. The limestone also produced a useful quarry industry. Usually small, and softer, high-calcium seams were burned to produce industrial lime. This lime was used for agricultural and construction purposes; for many years a specific portion of the C & O Railroad carried limestone rock to Clifton Forge, Virginia as an industrial flux. Salt mining had been underway since

2976-961: Is a geographic term: the Southern states that are geographically north of the Lower or Deep South, primarily Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, and to a lesser extent the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri. The Upland South is defined by elevation above sea level; it is west of the population centers on the east coast. It has its own history and culture, originating in Appalachia . It includes West Virginia and Kentucky, most of Tennessee, and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. It also includes parts of some Northern states , such as Southern Illinois (generally

3100-539: Is a landlocked state in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States . It is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 10th-smallest state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous state , with a population of 1,793,716 residents. The capital and most populous city

3224-541: Is also described in the Encyclopædia Britannica as the "Yeoman South," in contrast to the "Plantation South." The Upland South, being defined by landforms, also includes parts of Lower South states, such as northwestern South Carolina (the Upstate ), North Georgia , North Alabama , and northeastern Mississippi . It also includes parts of some Northern states , such as Southern Illinois (generally

3348-623: Is the only state entirely within the area served by the Appalachian Regional Commission ; the area is commonly defined as " Appalachia ". The state is noted for its mountains and rolling hills, its historically significant coal mining and logging industries, and its political and labor history . It is also known for its tourism and a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities, including skiing , whitewater rafting , fishing , hiking , backpacking , mountain biking , rock climbing , and hunting . From

3472-746: The American Revolutionary War . Some speculative land companies, such as the Vandalia Company , the Ohio Company and the Indiana Company , tried but failed to legitimize their claims to land in parts of West Virginia and present-day Kentucky. This rivalry resulted in some settlers petitioning the Continental Congress to create a new territory called Westsylvania . With the federal settlement of

3596-790: The Appalachian Regional Commission ), the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains . Also included in the Upland South are the plateaus, hills, and basins between the Appalachians and Ozarks, such as the Cumberland Plateau , part of the Allegheny Plateau , the Nashville Basin , the Shawnee Hills , and the Bluegrass Basin , among others. The southern Piedmont region is often considered part of the Upland South, while

3720-617: The Atlantic Coastal Plain (the Chesapeake region and South Carolina's Lowcountry ) are not. In contrast, the term "Upper South" tends to be defined politically by state boundaries. The term dates to the early 19th century and the rise of the Lower South, which became noted for its differences from the more northerly parts of the American South. In antebellum times, the term Upper South generally referred to

3844-653: The Great Depression to the 1990s, the state voted heavily for the Democratic Party due to its tradition of union-based politics. Since then, the state has become heavily Republican , and is considered a "deep red" state at the federal level. Many ancient manmade earthen mounds from various prehistoric mound builder cultures survive in West Virginia, especially in the areas of present-day Moundsville , South Charleston , and Romney . Artifacts uncovered in these give evidence of village societies with

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3968-746: The Great Wagon Road west and south into the Appalachian Highlands, via the Great Appalachian Valley . These migration streams from Virginia and Pennsylvania resulted in the Shenandoah Valley becoming well-settled as early as 1750. The early settlers of the Ohio Valley were mainly Upland Southerners. Much of the culture of the Upland South originated in southeastern Pennsylvania and spread down

4092-603: The Industrial Revolution in the U.S. and the steamships of many of the world's navies. The residents (both Native Americans and early European settlers) had long known of the underlying coal, and that it could be used for heating and fuel. However, for a long time, "personal" or artisanal mining was the only practical development. After the War, with the new railroads came a practical method to transport large quantities of coal to expanding U.S. and export markets. As

4216-593: The Ohio River in 1872 opened access to the New River Coal Field. Soon, the C&;O was building its huge coal pier at Newport News, Virginia , on the large harbor of Hampton Roads . In 1881, the new Philadelphia-based owners of the former Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O), which stretched across Virginia's southern tier from Norfolk , had sights clearly set on West Virginia, where

4340-746: The Pennsylvania and Virginia border dispute , creating Kentucky County, Virginia , Kentuckians "were satisfied [...] and the inhabitants of a large part of West Virginia were grateful." The Crown considered the area of West Virginia part of the British Virginia Colony from 1607 to 1776. The United States considered this area the western part of the state of Virginia (commonly called Trans-Allegheny Virginia ) from 1776 to 1863, before West Virginia's formation. Its residents were discontented for years with their position in Virginia, as

4464-557: The Shawnee Hills region), Southern Indiana , Southern Ohio , and extreme southwestern Pennsylvania. Eastern Oklahoma , North Texas , and Western Maryland are generally included as well. In the same way, the Upland South usually doesn't include parts of some Upper South states. This includes areas such as eastern Arkansas , the Missouri Bootheel , the Purchase area of Kentucky, and West Tennessee , which are part of

4588-426: The Shawnee Hills region), Southern Indiana , and Southern Ohio . Upland South outposts were settled along the shores of the Ohio River . There is a slight difference in usage between the two terms "Upland South" and "Upper South." The "Upland South" is usually defined based on landforms. This generally refers to the southern Appalachian Mountains or Appalachia region (although not the full region as defined by

4712-634: The South Branch Potomac River . Christopher Gist , a surveyor in the employ of the first Ohio Company , which was composed chiefly of Virginians, explored the country along the Ohio River north of the mouth of the Kanawha River between 1751 and 1752. The company sought to have a 14th colony established with the name " Vandalia ". Many settlers crossed the mountains after 1750, though they were hindered by Native American resistance. Few Native Americans lived permanently within

4836-529: The Virginia Board of Public Works . Virginians—led by former Confederate general William Mahone —formed a political coalition based upon this: the Readjuster Party . West Virginia's first constitution provided for the assumption of a part of the Virginia debt, but negotiations opened by Virginia in 1870 were fruitless, and in 1871 Virginia funded two-thirds of the debt and arbitrarily assigned

4960-595: The Virginia Colony , sent a party from Fort Henry led by Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam to survey this territory. They were the first Europeans recorded as discovering Kanawha Falls . Some sources state that Governor Alexander Spotswood 's 1716 Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition (for which the state's Golden Horseshoe Competition for 8th graders is named) had penetrated as far as Pendleton County , but modern historians interpret

5084-551: The Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 voted to secede from the Union, but of the 49 delegates from the northwestern corner (which ultimately became West Virginia) only 17 voted in favor of the Ordinance of Secession , while 30 voted against (with two abstentions). Almost immediately after that vote, a mass meeting at Clarksburg recommended that each county in northwestern Virginia send delegates to

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5208-420: The anthracite mines of northwestern New Jersey and Pennsylvania began to play out during this same time period, investors and industrialists focused new interest in West Virginia. Geologists such as Dr. David T. Ansted surveyed potential coal fields and invested in land and early mining projects. The completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) across the state to the new city of Huntington on

5332-474: The slave states north of the Lower or Deep South. During the American Civil War era, the term Upper South was often used to refer specifically to the Confederate states that did not secede until after the attack on Fort Sumter —Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas as well as the Confederate government of Kentucky and the Confederate government of Missouri . This can also include

5456-465: The 18th century, though it had largely played out by the time of the American Civil War, when the red salt of Kanawha County was a valued commodity of first Confederate, and later Union, forces. In the years following, more sophisticated mining methods would restore West Virginia's role as a major producer of salt. However, in the second half of the 19th century, there was an even greater treasure not yet developed: bituminous coal . It would fuel much of

5580-475: The American Civil War, with the exception of the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; these three Midwestern states had abolished slavery before the American Civil War. The Upland South voted for Democratic presidents into the 1990s, being won by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 , Jimmy Carter in 1976 , and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 . However, the Upland South has rapidly swung towards

5704-539: The American Revolution, the movement to create a state beyond the Alleghenies was revived and a petition for the establishment of " Westsylvania " was presented to Congress , on the grounds that the mountains presented an almost impassable barrier to the east. The rugged terrain made slavery unprofitable, and time only increased the social, political, economic, and cultural differences ( see Tuckahoes and Cohees ) between Virginia's two sections. In 1829,

5828-600: The Appalachian foothills was continued and extended through the mountains and highlands to the west and across the Mississippi River into the Ozark highland region. Where there was the danger of Indian attacks, people settled at first in clustered "stations," but as danger lessened, settlement tended to be in a rural, dispersed, kin-structured pattern, with relatively few cities and towns. These early settlers of

5952-663: The C&O and N&W presidents thought they could thus kill the Page project, they were to be proved mistaken. One of the silent partner investors Page had enlisted was millionaire industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers , a principal in John D. Rockefeller 's Standard Oil Trust and an old hand at developing natural resources and transportation. A master at competitive "warfare", Henry Rogers did not like to lose in his endeavors and also had "deep pockets" . Instead of giving up, Page (and Rogers) quietly planned and then built their tracks all

6076-567: The C&O at its line along the Kanawha River and the N&;W at Matoaka —a distance of about 80 miles (130 km). Although the Deepwater plan should have provided a competitive shipping market via either railroad, leaders of the two large railroads did not appreciate the scheme. In secret collusion, each declined to negotiate favorable rates with Page, nor did they offer to purchase his railroad, as they had many other short-lines. However, if

6200-509: The Civil War, Union General George B. McClellan 's forces gained possession of the greater part of the territory in the summer of 1861, culminating at the Battle of Rich Mountain , and Union control was never again seriously threatened. In 1863, General John D. Imboden , with 5,000 Confederates, raided a considerable portion of the state and burned Pierpont's library, although Willey escaped their grasp. Bands of guerrillas burned and plundered in some sections, and were not entirely suppressed until

6324-436: The Continental Army, showed war-weariness in what became West Virginia. Social conditions in western Virginia were entirely unlike those in the eastern part. The population was not homogeneous, as a considerable part of the immigration came by way of Pennsylvania and included Germans, Protestant Scotch-Irish , and settlers from states farther north. Counties in the east and south were settled mostly by eastern Virginians. During

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6448-422: The Deep South was controlled by Indians (mainly the Five Civilized Tribes of the Cherokee , Creek (Muscogee) , Chickasaw , Choctaw , and Seminole ) who were powerful enough to keep pioneering settlers from moving into the region. The Deep South's cotton boom did not occur until after the Indians were forced west in the early 19th century. In contrast, the Upland South, Kentucky, and Tennessee especially, were

6572-472: The General Assembly to reapportion representation based on the white population in 1865, or else put the matter to a public referendum. But the east also gave itself a tax advantage in requiring a property tax at true and actual value, except for slaves. Slaves under age 12 were not taxed and slaves over that age were taxed at only $ 300, a fraction of their true value, but small farmers had all their assets, animals, and land taxed at full value. Despite this tax and

6696-407: The Iroquois. They eventually settled somewhere between the Kanawha and Little Kanawha Rivers. During the 1750s, when the Mingo Seneca seceded from the Iroquois and returned to the Ohio River Valley, they contend that this tribe merged with them. The Shawnee arrived as well; though primarily stationed within former Monongahela territory approximately until 1750, they extended their influence throughout

6820-566: The Midwest and Deep South. These areas are often associated with national forests. For example Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri, Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana, Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio, William B. Bankhead National Forest in northern Alabama, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in northern Georgia, Sumter National Forest in South Carolina, and Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Textile mills and industry served as an important factor in

6944-438: The N&W was also shipping from new coal piers at Hampton Roads. In 1889, in the southern part of the state, along the Norfolk and Western rail lines, the important coal center of Bluefield, West Virginia , was founded. The "capital" of the Pocahontas coalfield , this city would remain the largest city in the southern portion of the state for several decades. It shares its name with a sister city, Bluefield , in Virginia. In

7068-415: The Ohio River from the Monongahela to Kentucky and extending an unknown distance inland, and the Eastern Siouan Tutelo and Moneton tribes in the southeast. There was also the Iroquoian Susquehannock in the region approximately east of the Monongahela River and north of the Monongahela National Forest, a possible tribe called the Senandoa, or Shenandoah, in the Shenandoah Valley and the easternmost tip of

7192-409: The Ohio River region. They were West Virginia's last Native tribe and were driven out by the United States during the Shawnee Wars (1811–1813). The Erie, who were chased out of Ohio around 1655, are now believed to be the same as the Westo , who invaded as far as South Carolina before being destroyed in the 1680s. If so, their path would have brought them through West Virginia. The historical movement of

7316-438: The Shattaras, or West Virginia Cherokees. They took in and merged with the Monetons, who began to call themselves the Mohetons. The Calicua also began to call themselves Cherokees soon after, showing an apparent further merger. These Shattaras were closely related to the tribes that formed to the south in the aftermath of the Westo—the Yuchi and Cherokee. From 1715 to 1717, the Yamasee War sprang up. The Senandoa allegedly sided with

7440-411: The Shawnee returned to war, joining the Chickamauga , a band of Cherokee known for the area where they lived. Native American attacks on settlers continued until after the American Revolutionary War . During the war, the settlers in western Virginia were generally active Whigs ; many served in the Continental Army . Claypool's Rebellion of 1780–1781, in which a group of men refused to pay taxes to

7564-452: The Shenandoah Valley. These migration streams eventually spread through Appalachia and westward through the Appalachian Plateau region into the Ozarks and Ouachitas, and ultimately contributed to the settlement of the Texas Hill Country . The main ethnicities of these early settlers included English , Scots-Irish , Scottish , and German . The early culture of the Upland South was influenced by other European ethnicities. For example,

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7688-477: The Susquehanna River of Eastern Pennsylvania. The Manahoac were probably forced out in the 1680s when the Iroquois began to invade Virginia. The Siouan tribes there moved into North Carolina and later returned as one tribe, known as the Eastern Blackfoot, or Christannas. The Westo did not secure the territory they conquered. Even before they were gone, displaced natives from the south flooded into freshly conquered regions and took them over. These became known as

7812-441: The Swedes and Finns of New Sweden —relatively few in number but pioneers in Pennsylvania before the Germans and Irish arrived—contributed techniques of forest pioneering such as the log cabin , the "zig-zag" split-rail fence , and frontier methods of shifting cultivation , such as girdling trees and using slash and burn methods to convert forest into temporary crop and pasture land. The pattern of settlement that had begun in

7936-411: The Tidewater and Piedmont slaveholders' political dominance. In addition to differences over slavery, he and allies felt the Virginia government ignored and refused to spend funds on needed internal improvements in the west, such as turnpikes and railroads. West Virginia was the only state in the Union to separate from a Confederate state ( Virginia ) during the Civil War. In Richmond on April 17, 1861,

8060-459: The Tutelo and carbon dating of the Fort Ancients seem to correspond with the given period of 1655–1670 as the time of their removal. The Susquehannocks were original participants in the Beaver Wars but were cut off from the Ohio River by the Iroquois around 1630 and found themselves in dire straits. Suffering from disease and constant warfare and unable to provide for themselves financially, they began to collapse and moved further and further east, to

8184-402: The Union was made to Congress, introduced by Senator Waitman Willey of the Restored Government of Virginia. Carlile sought to sabotage the bill, first trying to expand the new state's boundaries to include the Shenandoah Valley, and then to defeat the Willey amendment at home. On December 31, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln approved an enabling act admitting West Virginia on the condition that

8308-422: The United States in South Carolina and Louisiana, from where it spread throughout the Deep South, although there were local exceptions wherever conditions did not support the system. The sharp division between town and country, the intensive use of a few cash crops, and the high proportion of slaves, all differed from the Upland South. Virginia and the surrounding Tidewater region stand out as different from both

8432-414: The Upland South and the Deep South. Its history of slavery predates the West Indian plantation model, relying on tobacco as a cash crop from the start. Tidewater had few urban centers, instead establishing multiple markets along tributaries. Cotton and rice operations were large and factory-like, while tobacco profits hinged on skilled, careful, and efficient labor units. In addition, the Cotton Belt of

8556-450: The Upland South tended to practice small-scale farming, stock raising, and hunting. This settlement pattern of the Upland South was markedly different from that of the Deep South and the Midwest . A significant portion of 19th-century settlers of the Midwest was from the Upland South. The southern Midwest was most heavily settled by Upland Southerners, especially in Missouri, southern Indiana, and southern Illinois. This early migration to

8680-491: The Upland South was one of the nation's early industrial regions and continues to be today. Mining of coal , iron, copper, and other minerals has been part of the region's economy since the 18th century. As early as 1750, lead and zinc were mined in Wythe County, Virginia , and copper was mined and smelted in Polk County, Tennessee . Two major Appalachian goldfields were developed, the first in western North Carolina beginning in 1799. By 1825, Rutherford County, North Carolina

8804-417: The Upland South's economy from the late through the mid-20th century. Today the Upland South contains a diversity of people and economies. Some parts, like the Shenandoah Valley , are famous for their rural qualities, while other parts, like the Tennessee Valley , are heavily industrialized. Knoxville and Huntsville both serve as centers of industry and scientific research. The Upper South today remains

8928-816: The Upland South. Logging has also been an important part of the Upland South's economy. The region became the United States' primary source of timber after railroads allowed large-scale industrial logging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the historic importance of the Upland South's forests can be seen in its many national forests, such as Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee, Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina, and Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, among many others. The Upland South's terrain and forests, as well as history and culture, occur in parts of states usually associated with

9052-467: The Upper South is generally closely related to the south as a whole, excluding southern low-country coastal areas in which the cuisine tends to involve seafood and rice dishes, which are not common in the Upper South. During the American Civil War some areas of the Upland South were noted for their resistance to the Confederacy . The uplands of western Virginia became the state of West Virginia as

9176-610: The VGN's well-engineered 20th-century tracks continue to offer a favorable gradient to Hampton Roads. Upland South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, and settlement patterns. The term Upper South

9300-658: The Virginia General Assembly on May 23. This included some hold-over state senators whose four-year terms had begun in 1859, and some who vacated their offices to convene in Wheeling. Other members "were chosen even more irregularly—some in mass meetings, others by county committee, and still others were seemingly self-appointed". An act for the reorganization of the government was passed on June 19. The next day, convention delegates chose Francis H. Pierpont as governor of Virginia and elected other officers to

9424-619: The Yuchi and were destroyed by Yamasee allies. Therefore, if the Senandoa were the same tribe as the Moneton, this would mean the collapse of Shattara-Moneton culture. Another tribe that appeared in the region was the Canaragay, or Kanawha. It later migrated to Maryland and merged into colonial culture. In 1671, General Abraham Wood , at the direction of Royal Governor William Berkeley of

9548-504: The area. Conflicts with European settlers resulted in various displaced Native tribes settling in West Virginia, where they were known as Mingo , meaning "remote affiliates of the Iroquois Confederacy". The area now identified as West Virginia was contested territory among Anglo-Americans as well, with the colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia claiming territorial rights under their colonial charters to this area before

9672-432: The border between West Virginia and Virginia includes the "Saltpeter Trail", a string of limestone caverns containing rich deposits of calcium nitrate which were rendered and sold to the government. The trail stretched from Pendleton County to the western terminus of the route in the town of Union , Monroe County . Nearly half of these caves are on the West Virginia side, including Organ Cave and Haynes Cave . In

9796-751: The border from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Huntington in the southwest is close to Ohio and Kentucky, while Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry in the eastern panhandle region are considered part of the Washington metropolitan area, between Maryland and Virginia. West Virginia is often included in several U.S. geographical regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the Upland South , and the Southeastern United States . It

9920-622: The city a tough blue collar culture of hardened iron workers, miners, and steel workers as well as a cosmopolitan class of bankers, lawyers, educators and politicians. Similar examples of early urban-industrial areas include Embree's Iron Works in East Tennessee (1808), the Red River iron region of Estill County, Kentucky (1806–1808), and the Jackson Iron Works near Morgantown, West Virginia (1830). Wheeling, West Virginia

10044-490: The coastal plain. The Upland South contains its own sub-regions. The fertile lowlands of the Nashville Basin and the Bluegrass Basin gave rise to the cities of Nashville , Lexington , and Louisville , which grew into banking and mercantile centers during the late 19th century, home to an elite class of Upland Southerners, including bankers, lawyers, educators, and politicians. Most of the Upland South, however, remained rural in character. Although historically very rural,

10168-531: The constitution, which nevertheless passed because of eastern support. The eastern planter elite's failure to make constitutional reforms exacerbated existing east–west sectionalism in Virginia and contributed to its division. The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850–51 , the Reform Convention, addressed a number of issues important to western Virginians. It extended the vote to all white males 21 years or older. The governor, lieutenant governor,

10292-524: The constitutional amendment of 1866 was abrogated. Republicans had taken the first steps toward this change in 1870. On August 22, 1872, an entirely new constitution was adopted. Beginning in Reconstruction , and for several decades thereafter, the two states disputed the new state's share of the prewar Virginia government's debts, which had mostly been incurred to finance public infrastructure improvements, such as canals, roads, and railroads under

10416-411: The delegates provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the new state constitution. The state legislature abolished slavery in the state, and at the same time ratified the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationally on February 3, 1865. West Virginia's northern panhandle extends adjacent to Pennsylvania and Ohio to form a tristate area , with Wheeling , Weirton , and Morgantown just across

10540-530: The differences between the Deep South (lower) and Upland South (upper) were recognized. A key difference was the Deep South's plantation -style cash crop agriculture (mainly cotton, rice and sugar), using African American slaves working large farms while plantation owners tended to live in towns and cities. This system of plantation farming was originally developed in the West Indies and introduced to

10664-495: The government was dominated by the planter elite of the Tidewater and Piedmont areas. The legislature had electoral malapportionment, based on the counting of slaves toward regional populations, and western white residents were underrepresented in the state legislature. More subsistence and yeoman farmers lived in the west, and they were generally less supportive of slavery, although many counties were divided on their support. Residents of that area became more sharply divided after

10788-473: The judiciary, sheriffs, and other county officers were to be elected by public vote. The General Assembly's composition was changed. Representation in the House of Delegates was apportioned based on the census of 1850, counting whites only. The Senate representation was arbitrarily fixed at 50 seats, with the west receiving 20 senators and the east 30. This was made acceptable to the west by a provision that required

10912-408: The lack of internal improvements in the west, the vote was 75,748 for and 11,063 against the new constitution. Most of the opposition came from delegates from eastern counties, who did not like the compromises made for the west. Given these differences, many in the west had long contemplated a separate state. In particular, men such as lawyer Francis H. Pierpont from Fairmont had long chafed under

11036-613: The late 18th century and early 19th century. Migration and settlement patterns from colonial coastal regions into the interior had been established for many decades, but the scale grew dramatically toward the end of the 18th century. The general pattern was a westward migration from the Lowcountry and Piedmont regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland, as well as a southwestern migration from Pennsylvania. Large numbers of European immigrants arrived in Philadelphia and followed

11160-480: The late 18th century, saltpeter miners in Haynes Cave found large animal bones in the deposits. These were sent by a local historian and frontier soldier Colonel John Stuart to Thomas Jefferson . The bones were named Megalonyx jeffersonii , or great-claw, and became known as Jefferson's three-toed sloth. It was declared the official state fossil of West Virginia in 2008. The West Virginia official state rock

11284-551: The late 18th century, the upland "backcountry" of North Carolina grew in population until the Upland Southerners there outnumbered the older, well-established, wealthier coastal populations. In some cases, the conflict between the two resulted in warfare, such as War of the Regulation in North Carolina. Later, similar processes resulted in divergent populations in states to the west. Northern Alabama , for example,

11408-469: The law, said if it was not enacted he would lose the election by 500 votes. Confederates' property might also be confiscated, and in 1866 a constitutional amendment disfranchising all who had given aid and comfort to the Confederacy was adopted. The addition of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution caused a reaction. The Democratic party secured control in 1870, and in 1871

11532-600: The lifestyles of its residents, who tended to live in many small, relatively isolated communities in the mountain valleys. A 2010 analysis of a local stalagmite revealed that Native Americans were burning forests to clear land as early as 100   BCE. Some regional late-prehistoric Eastern Woodland tribes were more involved in hunting and fishing, practicing the Eastern Agricultural Complex gardening method which used fire to clear out underbrush from certain wooded areas. Another group progressed to

11656-551: The more time-consuming, advanced companion crop fields method of gardening. Also continuing from the ancient Indigenous people of the state, they cultivated tobacco through to early historic times. It was used in numerous social and religious rituals. " Maize (corn) did not make a substantial contribution to the diet until after 1150 BP ", to quote Mills (OSU 2003). Eventually, tribal villages began depending on corn to feed their turkey flocks, as Kanawha Fort Ancients practiced bird husbandry . The local Natives made cornbread and

11780-597: The mountains and hills of the Birmingham District transformed a gritty boom town, into the iron and steel city of Birmingham . Birmingham would soon be known as the Pittsburgh of the South, as it became the leading industrial and transportation hub of the south during the early 20th century. Some of these early furnaces and forges were fueled with nearby deposits of bituminous coal . This robust economy gave

11904-681: The mountains. A body of militia under then-Colonel Andrew Lewis dealt the Shawnee Natives , under Hokoleskwa (or "Cornstalk"), a crushing blow during the Battle of Point Pleasant at the junction of the Kanawha and the Ohio rivers. At the Treaty of Camp Charlotte concluding Dunmore's War , Cornstalk agreed to recognize the Ohio River as the new boundary with the " Long Knives ". But by 1776

12028-400: The movement of slaves into the new state, and to gradually abolish slavery. The education proposal succeeded, but the convention tabled the slavery proposals before finishing its work on February 18, 1862. The new constitution was more closely modeled on Ohio's than Virginia's, adopting a township model of government rather than the " courthouse cliques " of Virginia which Carlile criticized, and

12152-696: The northern portion of the state and elsewhere, the older Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) and other lines also expanded to take advantage of coal opportunities. The B&O developed coal piers in Baltimore and at several points on the Great Lakes . Other significant rail carriers of coal were the Western Maryland Railway (WM), Southern Railway (SOU), and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). Particularly notable

12276-594: The original accounts of the excursion as suggesting that none of the expedition's horsemen ventured much farther west of the Blue Ridge Mountains than Harrisonburg, Virginia . John Van Metre, a Native trader, penetrated into the northern portion in 1725. The same year, German settlers from Pennsylvania founded New Mecklenburg, the present Shepherdstown , on the Potomac River , and others followed. King Charles II of England , in 1661, granted to

12400-425: The owners had large landholdings. Their railroad was renamed Norfolk and Western (N&W), and a new railroad city was developed at Roanoke to handle planned expansion. After its new president Frederick J. Kimball and a small party journeyed by horseback and saw firsthand the rich bituminous coal seam, which Kimball's wife named Pocahontas , the N&W redirected its planned westward expansion to reach it. Soon,

12524-482: The planter elite of eastern Virginia voted to secede from the Union during the Civil War. Residents of the western and northern counties set up a separate government under Francis Pierpont in 1861, which they called the Restored Government . Most voted to separate from Virginia, and the new state was admitted to the Union in 1863. In 1864 a state constitutional convention drafted a constitution, which

12648-548: The range of 900 to 1,500 feet (270 to 460 m). By the Allegheny Front, however, elevations may reach well over 4,000 feet (1,200 m), with relief of up to 2,000 feet (610 m). The Allegheny Plateau is a physiographic section of the larger Appalachian Plateau province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian physiographic division. 41°N 80°W  /  41°N 80°W  / 41; -80 West Virginia West Virginia

12772-511: The remainder to West Virginia. The issue was finally settled in 1915 , when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $ 12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid in 1939. After Reconstruction , the new 35th state benefited from the development of its mineral resources more than any other single economic activity. Saltpeter caves had been employed throughout Appalachia for munitions;

12896-495: The remaining Virginia counties within the federal lines. The question of the constitutionality of the formation of the new state was later brought before the Supreme Court of the United States in Virginia v. West Virginia . Berkeley and Jefferson counties, lying on the Potomac east of the mountains, voted in favor of annexation to West Virginia in 1863, with the consent of Virginia's reorganized government. Many voters of

13020-454: The required referendum (as happened on May 23), such action would constitute revolution against the United States. The convention decided that if Virginians adopted the secession ordinance (of which there was little doubt), another convention including the members-elect of the legislature would meet in Wheeling in June 1861. On May 23, 1861, secession was ratified by a large majority in Virginia as

13144-516: The same general region that is south of and lower in elevation, than the Upland or Upper South. Likewise, the terms Lower South and Deep South are often used interchangeably. The Upland South differs from the Lowland South in several significant ways. These include terrain, history and politics, economics, demographics, and settlement patterns. The Upland South emerged as a distinct region in

13268-522: The scene of Indian resistance and pioneering settlement during the late 18th century. Thus the Upland South colonized earlier and had established its particular settlement patterns before most of the Deep South was opened to general colonization. The differences between the Upland South and lowlands of the Southern Atlantic Seaboard and Cotton Belt , often resulted in regional tension and conflict within states. For example, during

13392-443: The southern border states of Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware as Upper South. Today, although many definitions are still based on Civil War-era politics, the term Upper South is often used for all of the American South north of the Deep South region. The Encyclopædia Britannica defines the Upper South as the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The Upper/Upland South

13516-577: The southern Midwest included many African Americans. They were mainly freed slaves, but slavery was permitted in some places such as St. Louis , under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. In the mid-19th century, there were concentrations of African Americans in east-central Indiana, southwest Michigan, and elsewhere. Due to their early settlement of the Midwest, Upland Southerners initially controlled territorial and state governments, and played

13640-470: The southern portion of Missouri early in the war but largely lost control of both states after 1862. The southern Appalachian regions of East Tennessee , Western North Carolina , Northern Alabama , and Northern Georgia , were widely noted for their pro-Union sentiments. Most of the states with territory in the Upland South became part of the Solid South and enacted racial segregation laws after

13764-638: The state may have been home to the Manahoac people. The Monongahela may have been the same as a people known as the Calicua, or Cali. The following may have also all been the same tribe—Moneton, Moheton, Senandoa, Tomahitan. During the Beaver Wars, other tribes moved into the region. The Iroquoian Tiontatecaga (also Little Mingo, Guyandotte) seem to have split off from the Petun after they were defeated by

13888-693: The state's present limits, but the region was a common hunting ground, crossed by many trails. During the French and Indian War (the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe),Native allies of the French nearly destroyed the scattered British settlements. Shortly before the American Revolutionary War , in 1774 Crown Governor of Virginia John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore , led a force over

14012-516: The strongly pro-secessionist counties were absent in the Confederate Army when the vote was taken and refused to acknowledge the transfer when they returned. The Virginia General Assembly repealed the act of secession and in 1866 brought suit against West Virginia asking the court to declare the counties part of Virginia, which would have made West Virginia's admission as a state unconstitutional. Meanwhile, on March 10, 1866, Congress passed

14136-452: The war ended. The eastern panhandle counties were more affected by the war, with military control of the area repeatedly changing hands. The area that became West Virginia actually furnished about an equal number of soldiers to the Union and Confederate armies, about 22,000–25,000 each. In 1865, the Wheeling government found it necessary to strip voting rights from returning Confederates in order to retain control. James Ferguson, who proposed

14260-429: The way east across Virginia, using Rogers' private fortune to finance the $ 40 million cost. When the renamed Virginian Railway (VGN) was completed in 1909, no fewer than three railroads were shipping ever-increasing volumes of coal to export from Hampton Roads. West Virginia coal was also in high demand at Great Lakes ports. The VGN and the N&W ultimately became parts of the modern Norfolk Southern system, and

14384-527: The west by glacial till plains in the north, generally north of the Ohio River , and the Bluegrass Region south of the Ohio River . Elevations vary greatly. In the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, relief may only reach one hundred feet or less. In the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau in southeastern Ohio and westernmost West Virginia, relief is typically in the range of two hundred to four hundred feet. Absolute highest elevations in this area are often in

14508-674: Was a latecomer, the Virginian Railway (VGN). By 1900, only the most rugged terrain of southern West Virginia was any distance from the existing railroads and mining activity. Within this area west of the New River Coalfield in Raleigh and Wyoming counties lay the Winding Gulf Coalfield , later promoted as the "Billion Dollar Coalfield". A protégé of Dr. Ansted was William Nelson Page (1854–1932),

14632-470: Was also election day for local offices, and elections were also held in camps of Confederate soldiers, who elected rival state officials, such as Robert E. Cowan . Most pro-statehood votes came from 16 counties around the northern panhandle. Over 50,000 votes had been cast on the Ordinance of Secession, yet the vote on statehood garnered little more than 19,000. In Ohio County, home to Wheeling, only about

14756-425: Was known as "Nail City" in the 1840s and 1850s. By 1860, Tennessee was the third-largest iron-producing state in the nation, after Pennsylvania and New York. The scale of mining, especially coal mining, increased dramatically after 1870. The importance of mining and metallurgy can be seen in the many towns with names such as Pigeon Forge and Bloomery (a bloomery being a type of smelting furnace), scattered across

14880-416: Was ratified by the legislature without putting it to popular vote. West Virginia abolished slavery by a gradual process and temporarily disenfranchised those who had held Confederate office or fought for the Confederacy. West Virginia's history has been profoundly affected by its mountainous terrain, numerous and vast river valleys, and rich natural resources. These were all factors driving its economy and

15004-524: Was settled by Northern English , Scots lowlanders and Ulster-Scots (later called the Scotch-Irish ) who initially settled in Appalachia and later the entire Upland South in the mid to late 18th century. Similar to the Deep South, the region is part of the Bible Belt and heavily evangelical Protestant , with Baptists making up a plurality in the vast majority of counties. The cuisine of

15128-403: Was settled by Upland Southerners from Tennessee, while southern Alabama was one of the core regions of the Deep South cotton boom. The two regions also differ physically. The Upland South is dominated by deciduous hardwood forest , in contrast to the Deep South's predominantly evergreen pine forests. The Upland South is often much hillier than the Deep South, due to the Deep South being part of

15252-556: Was the center of the nation's most extensive gold mining . In 1828, a much richer Gold Strike was made in North Georgia , mostly within what was then the territory of the Cherokee Nation . The mining camp of Dahlonega boomed during the ensuing Georgia Gold Rush . Iron foundries in Virginia and early coal mining operations in central Appalachia date to before 1850. The abundance of iron ore, coal, and limestone in

15376-515: Was therefore both constitutional and expedient. The convention was reconvened on February 12, 1863, and the abolition demand of the federal enabling act was met. The revised constitution was adopted on March 26, 1863, and on April 20, 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation admitting the state 60 days later on June 20, 1863. Meanwhile, officers for the new state were chosen, while Pierpont moved his pro-Union Virginia capital to Union-occupied Alexandria , where he asserted and exercised jurisdiction over all

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