ABSTRACT
The method by which West Virginia became a state is unique in the history of the formation of the state governments of the United States. Kentucky (1792) and Maine (1821), for example, were originally districts of, respectively, Virginia and Massachusetts. Virginia and Massachusetts passed statutes giving their consent to the creation of the new states. Tennessee (1796) was formed from territory ceded to the federal government by North Carolina in 1790. Vermont (1791) was created in an area of the country that had once been claimed by New York. New York, however, did not dispute the creation of the new state.
