THEY WERE VIRGINIANS FIRST…

What would the great Virginians, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry, George Mason, John Randolph, John Taylor, and “Lighthorse” Harry Lee have done? They all supported the Union, believed the Constitution was a compact between the states, BUT THEY WERE VIRGINIANS FIRST. Just as the citizens of the South owed their loyalty to their respective states first …

So when the states of the deep South discussed secession, Virginia called a convention of the people to decide the question, and the convention voted firmly to stay in the Union. It was only after Lincoln had decided on war and called for troops that the convention reconvened and voted to secede. 

Madison had said in the Federalist that the central government COULD NOT COERCE A STATE. To be sure that the will of the people was expressed, the judgment of the convention was put to the people of Virginia, who supported secession by a margin of five to one. Tennessee was also pro-Union, but, in a referendum of the voters, decided to secede by a margin of two to one after Lincoln’s decision to wage war. The pro-Union states of North Carolina and Arkansas seceded for the same reason. Donald Livingston 


Photo: Alfred J. Lilliston Pvt. Co. F, 46th Virginia Infantry