Video: 'West Virginia: The Road to Statehood - New'

(Saturday, June 20, 1863; during the American Civil War) — West Virginia, formed by seceding from Virginia, a Confederate state currently in rebellion against the United States, became the 35th state admitted to the Union today.

When Virginia voted to secede after the American Civil War outbreak, most West Virginians opposed the secession.

Delegates met at Wheeling, and on June 11, 1861, nullified the Virginian ordinance of secession and proclaimed “The Restored Government of Virginia,” headed by Francis Pierpont.

Confederate forces occupied a portion of West Virginia during the war, but West Virginian statehood was approved in a referendum and a state constitution was drawn up.

Video: 'Parts Unknown S11 E1 West Virginia'

In April 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the admission of West Virginia into the Union effective today.

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 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.