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Authors: Richard H. Owens
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the Union was pegged. Nor was it hardly the full and immediate abolition for which, by 1863, the Civil War was being fought and promoted by the North. 77
Although some delegates in the Wheeling Constitutional Convention opposed Battelleâs position, they knew they could not create a pro-slavery document and gain Congressional approval for such a constitution. And that approval was a condition for statehood. 78 Yet the myth of West Virginiansâ general [as opposed to purely political] opposition to the institution of slavery persisted, as did the largely pro-Union [rather than anti-eastern and anti-Tidewater] political rationale and motivation for separation and statehood.
Following much debate and compromise, the provision written into the Wheeling constitution banned the introduction of slaves or free African-Americans into the state of West Virginia. 79 It was hardly an emancipatory, egalitarian, or humanitarian statement. Rather, it clearly reflected the politically anti-slave, but racially and culturally anti-black, feelings of most white people in the region, especially in the areas removed from proximity to Pennsylvania and the Ohio River. The West Virginia state constitution did not address the issue of immediate or gradual emancipation, leaving ambiguous the status of several thousand present slaves in the western counties. 80
When Congress addressed the West Virginia statehood bill, the U.S. Senate first rejected a statehood bill proposed by Restored âVirginiaâ Government U.S. Senator John Carlile. In fact, West Virginiaâs original application for statehood did not propose emancipation. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner demanded an emancipation clause to prevent creation of another slave state. Senator Carlile wanted a statewide election to decide the issue. 81
Given the record and the attitudes displayed by many in the western counties on racial issues, the result of such a canvas might have been rejection of emancipation. After all, delegates to the constitutional convention in Wheeling chose not to insert emancipatory language in their original draft document. Carlileâs disappointment over the U.S. Senateâs rejection of a statewide [West Virginia] plebiscite on slavery was a major factor in his opposition to ratification of statehood by the Wheeling Convention after Congress approved it and the Willey Amendment.
On July 14, 1862, the Senate approved a statehood proposal for West Virginia which included the Willey Amendment. Carlile voted against the latter bill. 82 The vote made Carlile a traitor in the eyes of many West Virginians, since it appeared that he was willing to forego statehood in defense of slavery. That in itself was a strange situation, for a supposedly anti-slave state to have a âSenatorâ behaving like the northern âdoughfacesâ of the 1840âs and 1850âs. Carlile himself was never again elected to political office.
Finally, a compromise between Senator Willey and Committee on Territories Chairman Benjamin Wade of Ohio, like Sumner a strong opponent of slavery, determined that, after July 4, 1863, all slaves in West Virginia over twenty-one years of age would become free. This became the Willey Amendment. Younger slaves would become free upon reaching the age of twenty-one. Apparently they would be in better hands if left as slaves with their masters rather than becoming wards of their newly emancipated parents! The Willey Amendment thus prohibited some slavery, but it continued to allow ownership of slaves under the age of twenty-one [some of whom presumably could remain in bondage for nearly twenty-one more years!].
But the larger issue regarding anti-slave sentiment in West Virginia again came to the fore. Anti-slave sentiment in western Virginia was a euphemism for anti-eastern influence and power, not a disposition among most of the regionâs white residents to favor emancipation or racial equality. The creation of West
Although some delegates in the Wheeling Constitutional Convention opposed Battelleâs position, they knew they could not create a pro-slavery document and gain Congressional approval for such a constitution. And that approval was a condition for statehood. 78 Yet the myth of West Virginiansâ general [as opposed to purely political] opposition to the institution of slavery persisted, as did the largely pro-Union [rather than anti-eastern and anti-Tidewater] political rationale and motivation for separation and statehood.
Following much debate and compromise, the provision written into the Wheeling constitution banned the introduction of slaves or free African-Americans into the state of West Virginia. 79 It was hardly an emancipatory, egalitarian, or humanitarian statement. Rather, it clearly reflected the politically anti-slave, but racially and culturally anti-black, feelings of most white people in the region, especially in the areas removed from proximity to Pennsylvania and the Ohio River. The West Virginia state constitution did not address the issue of immediate or gradual emancipation, leaving ambiguous the status of several thousand present slaves in the western counties. 80
When Congress addressed the West Virginia statehood bill, the U.S. Senate first rejected a statehood bill proposed by Restored âVirginiaâ Government U.S. Senator John Carlile. In fact, West Virginiaâs original application for statehood did not propose emancipation. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner demanded an emancipation clause to prevent creation of another slave state. Senator Carlile wanted a statewide election to decide the issue. 81
Given the record and the attitudes displayed by many in the western counties on racial issues, the result of such a canvas might have been rejection of emancipation. After all, delegates to the constitutional convention in Wheeling chose not to insert emancipatory language in their original draft document. Carlileâs disappointment over the U.S. Senateâs rejection of a statewide [West Virginia] plebiscite on slavery was a major factor in his opposition to ratification of statehood by the Wheeling Convention after Congress approved it and the Willey Amendment.
On July 14, 1862, the Senate approved a statehood proposal for West Virginia which included the Willey Amendment. Carlile voted against the latter bill. 82 The vote made Carlile a traitor in the eyes of many West Virginians, since it appeared that he was willing to forego statehood in defense of slavery. That in itself was a strange situation, for a supposedly anti-slave state to have a âSenatorâ behaving like the northern âdoughfacesâ of the 1840âs and 1850âs. Carlile himself was never again elected to political office.
Finally, a compromise between Senator Willey and Committee on Territories Chairman Benjamin Wade of Ohio, like Sumner a strong opponent of slavery, determined that, after July 4, 1863, all slaves in West Virginia over twenty-one years of age would become free. This became the Willey Amendment. Younger slaves would become free upon reaching the age of twenty-one. Apparently they would be in better hands if left as slaves with their masters rather than becoming wards of their newly emancipated parents! The Willey Amendment thus prohibited some slavery, but it continued to allow ownership of slaves under the age of twenty-one [some of whom presumably could remain in bondage for nearly twenty-one more years!].
But the larger issue regarding anti-slave sentiment in West Virginia again came to the fore. Anti-slave sentiment in western Virginia was a euphemism for anti-eastern influence and power, not a disposition among most of the regionâs white residents to favor emancipation or racial equality. The creation of West
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