West Virginia's Constitutional Critique of Virginia: The Revolution of 1861-1863.

The article presents a chronology of the events that led to the establishment of the state of West Virginia between 1861 and 1863. It describes how citizens in western Virginia mobilized in an effort to become an autonomous state following a decision by the Commonwealth of Virginia to secede from the U.S. in 1861, discusses the declaration of independence issued by separatists at the Second Wheeling Convention in the summer of 1861, and explores the role of lawyer Peter Gordon Van Winkle in the West Virginia Constitutional Convention. It also examines several topics which were debated at the West Virginia Constitution Convention including the state name, the electoral process and establishment of voting districts, and taxation for slaveholders.