Virginia and West Virginia Or The Old Dominion and The Mountain State Two bordering Southeastern states in these
United States that uh...used to be one state! Yeah, let’s go ahead and dig into some history
and look at why that is. Humans have lived in the modern-day Virginias
for thousands of years. Before European arrival, eastern modern-day
Virginia was dominated by the Powhatan Confederacy. However, several other American Indian tribes
are native to the area, including the Tutelo and Saponi, Catawba, and Cherokee. Meanwhile, modern-day West Virginia was home
to various Shawnee and Ohio Valley tribes, but also the Tutelo and Saponi and Cherokee. In 1607, the English came over. Wait a second, is that why I’m speaking
English to you right now? Anyway, the London Company established the
Colony of Virginia, named after Queen Elizabeth the First of England, who was known as the
Virgin Queen. Get it? The Colony of Virginia was the first permanent
English colony in the Americas, which is why Old Dominion is the state nickname today by
the way. After a rough start, the settlement of Jamestown,
located on the north bank of the James River, eventually thrived as the first permanent
English settlement in the Americas. They first settled the area for gold, but
never found any. No worries, they soon figured out how to grow
tobacco, which might as well have been gold since it became so valuable. That was mostly thanks to this dude, John
Rolfe, who also famously made peace with the Powhatan Confederacy by marrying Chief Powhatan’s
daughter, Pocahontas. There was later a crappy Disney movie about
Pocahontas. Anyway, European settlement steadily increased
after tobacco became a cash crop. In August 1619, the first recorded slaves
from Africa arrived near Jamestown and worked in tobacco fields. Over the following decades, more and more
Africans would be forced to migrate to Virginia to become slaves. What’s weird is that in those early years
some slaves could wander freely, get married, buy land and other property, or even buy their
own freedom. Yep, that means they were actually paid some
for their work, and several Africans in Virginia were not slaves. In one Virginian county in 1668, 29 percent
of all Africans were free. At least one African American had an indentured
servant at one point. Oh yeah, indentured servants, or people who
paid for their passage to the Americas by being forced to work for somebody for a certain
number of years before getting their freedom, were also very common in the Colony of Virginia,
especially after King Charles the First supporters came to Virginia in large numbers after he
died in 1649. Beginning in the late 1660s, Virginia colonists
would sadly pass new laws that further restricted the rights of all blacks, both free and slaves. Meanwhile, the British crown had taken over
the Colony of Virginia since they didn’t like how the London Company was running things. For the rest of the 1600s, the colony grew
quickly and brought lot of wealth to England and certain plantation owners. Most of this wealth was concentrated in the
hands of a few elite folks in Eastern Virginia, but in Western Virginia farmers were barely
getting by. One dude out there named Nathaniel Bacon,
helped launch a rebellion in 1676 against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, mostly
due to this huge economic inequality but also since Berkeley wasn’t doing much to protect
farmers constantly being attacked by American Indians. Now, why were American Indians attacking these
farmers? Well, ya know, since the farmers were taking
their land, and had been for decades, but regardless Berkeley seemed to be on the American
Indian side and so...rebellion. Even though what became known as Bacon’s
Rebellion failed, the tension between Eastern and Western Virginia did not go away. Let’s flash forward to 1763. As a result of the Treaty of Paris that ended
the French and Indian War, Britain took control of territory beyond Western Virginia in the
Ohio Valley. With the Proclamation of 1763, it also established
a boundary, banning colonial settlers from moving west of it, to appease American Indian
tribes. However, some Western Virginia pioneers were
like, nu-huh, and settled west of the Proclamation boundary anyway. Some even called for a new colony out there
called Vandalia. Virginia had to respond and established a
county out there called Kentucky during the American War of Independence. But it had a hard time keeping track of what
was going on out west, especially since once you got into the mountains, it was harder
to get around. Back to the American Revolution. Um, yeah, Virginia and its citizens played
a big freaking part. Like this dude...Patrick Henry, a future governor
of the state of Virginia but more famously known as the “give me liberty or give me
death” speech guy. And this dude, Thomas Jefferson, who….I
don’t know...was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence? Or this dude, James Madison, who...I don’t
know...was the main writer of the United States Constitution? Many of the soldiers who fought and many of
the generals who led in the war were Virginians. Like this dude, George freaking Washington,
who led the Continental Army. He led the Americans to victory at the Battle
of Yorktown, and later became the First President of the newly formed country of the United
States. Jefferson and Madison were later Presidents,
as well. In fact, eight American Presidents were born
in Virginia. In the early years of the United States being
a country, the now state of Virginia had the largest population BY FAR. in 1790, 19% of
the whole country lived in the state. Also in 1790, more than 39% of the population
consisted of slaves. But while slavery remained prevalent in Eastern
Virginia, up in the mountains in Western Virginia, there were a lot less slaves and a lot more
antislavery folks. In 1831, an enslaved preacher named Nat Turner
led a slave rebellion, killing as many as 60 people. In response, around 30 African Americans were
hanged or expelled from the state, and the General Assembly passed harsher slave laws,
like laws making it illegal to teach slaves how to read or write. Virginia was also where the abolitionist John
Brown tried and failed to incite another slave rebellion in 1859. He attempted to take over a federal armory
at Harpers Ferry, but ultimately Brown was captured and executed. Virginia’s government absolutely refused
to get rid of slavery. After the election of Abraham Lincoln as President,
the General Assembly voted to secede from the Union over the issue, and this soon led
to the American Civil War, with Virginia leading the fight for the newly formed Confederate
States of America. Several Western Virginians in Wheeling, however,
opposed secession and wanted to stay with the Union. In October 1861, they voted for a new state,
and the next April they had a new constitution. They were admitted to the Union as West Virginia
on June 20th, 1863. So this split Virginia into two states, with
West Virginia fighting for the Union and Virginia fighting for the Confederates, and it was
basically a smaller version of the entire war, and boy were both states on the front
lines of it. Many prominent Confederate generals, like
Jeb Stuart, George Pickett, and THE Robert E. Lee were from Virginia, and Stonewall Jackson
was from what became West Virginia. Most of the battles in the Eastern Theater
of the Civil War took place in Virginia, mainly since the Confederates had to defend its national
capital there, which was in Richmond. And there is no doubt that the Civil War left
Virginia devastated. After the Confederacy lost the war and the
United States reunited, Virginia sued West Virginia to get some of its counties back,
but the Supreme Court said “no.” Virginia also tried to get West Virginia to
pay off some of its Civil War debts, and this dispute lasted until 1911, when finally the
Supreme Court did make West Virginia pay over $12 million of Virginia Civil War debt. The economies of both states struggled for
the rest of the 1800s. However, West Virginia’s economy did start
growing more quickly thanks to its plentiful natural resources, and both logging and coal
mining expanded in the state. It wasn’t until World War One when the economy
really picked up in Virginia. That’s when it got a boost from the newfound
federal spending for the military. Meanwhile, both states had racial segregation
up until the 1960s. For the rest of the 1900s, Virginia’s economy
diversified a lot while West Virginia’s didn’t nearly as much. Plus, most West Virginians eventually sold
their rights to land and minerals to large corporations. Today, this is the main reason why both states
are actually quite different. West Virginia has one of the highest poverty
rates in the country (16%), while Virginia has one of the lowest poverty rates in the
country (9.9%). Now, this is mostly due the concentration
of wealth in Northeastern Virginia in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. All those lobbyists up there, amirite? :sighs: Ok, uh...what about other differences? Well, first of all, Virginia is about 1.6
times bigger in land area. Virginia also has a lot more people. In fact, it has nearly five times as many
people. (WV- 1.8 million, V- 8.7 million) While West Virginia’s population has actually
been declining in recent years, Virginia’s population continues to steadily increase. In fact, West Virginia lost a higher percentage
of its residents than any other state in the country over the past ten years, and currently
has fewer residents now than it did in 1950. To solve this potential crisis, West Virginia
will currently pay you $12,000 to move there. Virginia has a higher population density. West Virginia has smaller cities. In fact, its largest city, Charleston, which
also happens to be its capital, has only 48,000 people. Yeah it used to have more than 85,000 in 1960. Virginia’s biggest city is Virginia Beach,
which has around 450,000 people. By the way, Virginia Beach does have the world’s
longest tourist beach. I’ve been there, and it does seem to go
on forever. That said, again Virginia also has part of
the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, and that has 5.4 million people. It's one of the wealthiest and most educated
metro areas in the country, and marks the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis(mwhahahahahaha),
a part of the country that contains more than 17 percent of its entire population, or some
50 million people on less than 2% of the country’s land area. Virginia borders more states. In addition to bordering the District of Columbia,
(which is not a state of course) and West Virginia, Virginia also borders Maryland,
Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. West Virginia also borders Maryland and Kentucky,
but also Pennsylvania and Ohio. Virginia residents are younger. (WV- 42.5 median age, V- 38.2 median age) Virginia has a much more ethnically diverse
population. West Virginia residents are more religious. The violent crime rate is lower in Virginia. However, West Virginia’s violent crime rate
has been falling in recent years. More Virginians have college degrees, but
West Virginia spends more per student on education so take that Virginia. Oh yeah? According to Forbes magazine, Virginia is
a MUCH better state to do business in, and is ranked 4th in the country, compared to
West Virginia being ranked 2nd to last. Related to this, the median household income
is also MUCH higher in Virginia. (WV- $44,097, V- $72,577) Squirrel- you just HAD to bring up the fact
that Virginia is so much wealthier again, didn’t you Mr. Beat
Mr. Beat- well I’m sorry, I just- Squirrel- oh just stop dunking on states,
ok? Mr. Beat- uh ok….let’s see, how shall
I carefully proceed? Oh, I know! West Virginia has a MUCH lower cost of living. Eh? Major industries in Virginia include healthcare,
government and public services, and technology. Lots of federal agencies have headquarters
in the state. Major industries in West Virginia include
manufacturing, energy, and tourism. West Virginia residents tend to be more conservative. Indeed, Virginians tend to vote more for Democratic
Party candidates in recent years. Both of Virginia’s Senators are Democrat. West Virginia has one Republican and one Democrat
Senator, but that Democrat is Joe Manchin, who has gotten a lot of attention this year
for often being a swing vote that sometimes votes against his fellow Democrats on bills. Historically, however, both states have gone
back and forth between the two major political parties. After all, Virginia voted for George W. Bush
for President in 2000 and 2004, and West Virginia voted reliably for Democrats before the 2000s. Speaking of presidential elections, Virginia
has 13 electoral votes, and after the 2020 census, West Virginia is going from 5 to 4. Taxes are lower in Virginia. While medical marijuana is legal in West Virginia,
recreational marijuana is legal for all adults in Virginia. Virginia has the largest office building in
the world- the Pentagon. Oh, and the largest naval base in the world-
Naval Station Norfolk, in...uh...Norfolk. Three different rivers make up part of the
border of West Virginia, but also humans created its borders, so that’s why it looks so weird
and is so difficult to draw free hand go ahead and do it and try I dare you. West Virginia is simply more beautiful. I mean, freaking look at that. It has more wilderness, and is the third most
forested state in the country after Maine and New Hampshire. Oh look at that. Ok, Virginia is beautiful, too. While both are considered Mid-Atlantic states,
only Virginia borders the Atlantic Ocean. Also while both are at least in part of the
Appalachian region, West Virginia is the only state entirely in Appalachia, a cultural region
that surrounds the Appalachian Mountains all the way from Mississippi to New York. While this region has historically held lots
of natural resources, it also has unfortunately been associated with lots of poverty. As I mentioned earlier, West Virginia has
struggled, and today 99% of its residents control less than half the land. Oh yeah, and people often forget about Virginia’s
Eastern Shore, the only part of the state not connected by land. You can still drive across the Chesapeake
Bay, however, via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel. Hey let’s end this video with similarities. I guess there aren’t many. Both are Mid-Atlantic states. Oh I already said that. Both states have oceanic, humid subtropical
and humid continental climates. Being near the ocean, Virginia does have to
worry about hurricanes, and West Virginia does not. Wait a second, I thought we were doing similarities
here?!? Ok, there are no professional sports teams
in either state, but many of their college teams are big time, in the NCAA Division I,
baby. The biggest religion in both is Christianity. Specifically, Evangelical Protestant. Both have exactly one national park. Residents of both definitely have a Southern-type
accent. I mean, that’s kind of it. That’s all I can think of at the moment
anyway. What am I missing? Overall, both states are definitely wonderful
places. Virginia obviously has all the history and
beauty. West Virginia clearly has the beauty, and
might not look as good as Virginia based on this video, but... like I said earlier, they’ll
now pay you to move there. If you work remotely, you might move there
now before things heat up and the cost of living skyrockets like it has been in most
other places. I know, I know, I made a lot of folks upset
by deciding to compare Virginia to West Virginia instead of Maryland for my Compared series,
but a LOT of folks also wanted to see me compare the Virginias. Plus, I could also still compare Virginia
to Maryland in a future video because why not? It’s my channel. I do what I want dangit. So what other states should I compare for
this series? Let me know down below. And now, it’s time for my monthly shout
out to my Patreon supporters who donate at least $10 or more a month to my channel. Starting with my biggest donors,
George freaking Washington.