Anne: Sadly, the best reason for Virginia's secession was the perpetuation of slavery. Here is Henry Wise addressing the delegates at the Virginia secession convention: "You talk about slavery in the territories; you talk about slavery in the District of Columbia -- when its tenure in Virginia is doubtful." David Kiracofe David Kiracofe History Tidewater Community College Chesapeake Campus 1428 Cedar Road Chesapeake, Virginia 23322 757-822-5136 >>> Anne Pemberton <[log in to unmask]> 06/19/07 2:57 PM >>> Walter, Thanks for an interesting post. What I wonder was what grievance Virginia had with the United States that could have supported a request to secede. I have heard the arguments against the tarriffs that made imported goods more expensive than home-made ones. I've seen too much antique stuff in yankee country to be convinced that they were producing "inferior goods". As to the right to carry their "property" into other states which outlaw such "property", that has always seemed a rather indefensible position to me. The fact that the balance of power was changing in the Congress, with the admission of more non-slave states seems more like sour grapes than a valid reason to secede. So, did Virginia have any good reason to secede legally? Anne Anne Pemberton [log in to unmask] http://www.erols.com/apembert http://www.educationalsynthesis.org