>" On April 13, before the convention could completely finalize this document and submit it to the federal government,
the convention learned of the attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The members of the convention saw this as an act of coercion by the North, and this they could not tolerate. Accordingly, on April 16, the convention went into secret session and on the following day passed an ordinance of secession uniting their state's destiny with that of the Southern Confederacy.
We will, therefore, begin our discussion by examining arguments that drew on Virginia's position of prominence and leadership to advance each of the three positions that Virginians adopted toward the secession issue which will be discussed at length in this essay: 1.) to stay with the Union, thus strengthening the federal government's position, 2.) to urge it to force concessions from the North, and 3) to secede and join the South. In an editorial published in The Richmond Enquirer, the author stated that, because of Virginia's position as the "Old Mother State," it should have threatened to secede if the North did not make concessions pleasing to it and the other southern states.3 Another example of this argument occurred on the fifth day of Virginia's state convention when a commissioner from Mississippi, Fulton Anderson, gave an address to the representatives reminding them of their state's dominant position in the Revolutionary War:
[ In recurring to our past history, we recognize the State of Virginia as the leader in the first great struggle for independence; foremost not only in the vindication of her own rights, but in the assertion and defence of the endangered liberties of her sister colonies; and by the eloquence of her orators and statesmen, as well as by the courage of her people arousing the whole American people in resistance to British aggression. 4 ]
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>" In a rather unexpected argument, Mr. Stuart asserted in the convention that the formation of a Southern Confederacy would actually end slavery.20 He explained that there were, in fact, many Northerners who supported the right of the South to hold slaves and that, by breaking off from them, the South would incite them to fight against slavery. Thus, the whole world would then be against this institution, held dear only by Southerners, and so it would be impossible to sustain it. These arguments, alerting Virginians to the problems and complications that would result from disunion, were some of the strongest reasons given against the secession of Virginia. Certainly, if Virginians truly believed that their rights would be better secured within the Union, they would never secede from it..."<
>" Beyond these arguments that relied on southern unity, many Virginians garnered support for the secession of their state based on the
sovereignty argument. This type of argument appeared in one editorial in which the author stated, "I love this Union, but I love my State's rights more. I would spill the last drop of blood in my veins for my State. For my section, and for my country."..."<
>" Undoubtedly, those Virginians who supported secession from the start were pushed into intense fervor after the election, and especially the inauguration, of Lincoln, a Republican.
Demonstrating their belief that the aggressors of the conflict were the Northerners, many in Virginia railed against the Union, declaring that the North had forced the South, and thus Virginia, into secession and ultimately war..."<
>" The slow, deliberate action taken by Virginia compared to the other slave states singles it out as traveling a different path to secession. As this essay has shown, the major reason for Virginia's delay was the amount of disagreement between its citizens.
The imminent cause for secession was neither Lincoln's election nor his inaugural, but the North's actual use of military force against the South. ..."<
Virginia's Secession from the Union
