Explanation: During the US Civil War, the state of Virginia declared its secession from the Federal government, in order that Virginia might preserve slavery. The Appalachian Mountains, however, were a stronghold of anti-slaver and pro-Union sentiment, so after resisting Confederate attempts to subdue them, the people of the western regions of Virginia decided that they would secede from Virginia in order to rejoin the Union. The Federal government opted to recognize this, and so the state of West Virginia was born!

Shame how things in West Virginia are anymore.