Wheeling Convention

The 1861 Wheeling Convention was a series of two meetings called to repeal an Ordinance of Secession from the United States of America that had been approved throughout Virginia in a referendum. This convention thus purported to establish a Restored government of Virginia, which authorized the counties that organized the convention to form a new state, West Virginia. The convention was held at what became known as West Virginia Independence Hall in  Wheeling. The Restored Government was recognized by the United States as the legitimate government of the Commonwealth of Virginia; its provisional capital was in Wheeling, and its official capital was in Richmond. The Wheeling Convention led to a Constitutional Convention for the new state of West Virginia.