The Role of Debt and Dependency in Shaping West Virginia's Political Economy, 1820-1920

his thesis evaluates how West Virginia's perceptions of debt and dependency were formed and contributed to the state's political economy throughout the nineteenth century. As a part of the Virginia Commonwealth, western Virginians used antebellum political debates to independently control regional resources and seize the political prestige of connecting the nation's east to the nation's west. When eastern Virginians seceded from the Union in 1861, western Virginians saw an opportunity to claim their independence. Secessionist and unionist support provided the political chaos necessary for western Virginians to declare their independence. Political uprisings sprouted up throughout western Virginia. Northwestern Virginia's pro-Union leaders vowed to support northern efforts. The addition of western Virginia to the Union provided President Lincoln with an important war measure to weaken the Commonwealth and contribute to a pressing demand for troops and resources. However, before western Virginians could seize their independence, they were asked to reconcile a debt. Virginia's antebellum investments, which western Virginia supported to varying degrees, generated an unresolved public debt of over...