West+Virginia+History

media type="custom" key="11085174" //The rich history of West Virginia is invaluable. The state was born due to the stress placed on it's mother State Virginia during the Civil War. Not afraid to stand up for the beliefs in economic equality, national loyalty, and freedom from slavery, Waitman T. Willey and many others forged out the beginnings of our great state West Virginia. As the state has grown, from it have been born great stories of patriotic military volunteers, hard core coal miners, loggers, railroaders, abounding athletes, and commoners who are thankful to call the West Virginia hills home.//

West Virginia Culture and History Site West Virginia Encyclopedia online
 * Two great WV historic resources are listed below:**

//I'm proud of West Virginia,// //Home of the Mountaineer,// //A child of Civil War,// //born// //during stormy years,// //In 1863 Abe Lincoln gave the call,// //and a thirty fifth star was on our flag// //that would soon outshine them all.// //Our Capital in Charleston,// //It glistens blue and gold,// //and for every country road,// //There's a story to be told,// //From Stonewall Jackson's Cavalry,// //To Blennerhassett Isle,// //In the Mountains you'll find history,// //In each and every mile,// //I'm proud of West Virginia,// //Home of the Mountaineer,// //A child of Civil War born// //during stormy years,// //In 1863 Abe Lincoln gave the call// //and a thirty fifth star was on our flag// //that would soon outshine them all,// //poet Unknown//

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 * Play the Interactive Game to learn more about President Lincoln || [] ||
 * West Virginia Culture and History site || [] ||
 * History behing the name of Lincoln County West Virginia || [] ||
 * Abraham Lincoln Classroom site || [] ||

West Virginia Civil War Battle Map
==The land that is now the state of West Virginia served as a major battlefield in the beginning of the Civil War. To see an online map of those battles, visit []. The map is interactive and provides basic information and statistics on each battle.==

**West Virginia Coal Mining **
Coal mining has always played a major role in the lives of West Virginians. Labor Day is in part a celebration of the struggles of Coal Miners Unions and other Laborers throughout West Virginia. To learn more about the events behind the history of Labor Day check out the information below. Aurora Lights, an educational organization based in West Virginia, is excited to announce a new edition to Journey Up Coal River's lesson plans  focused on the Battle of Blair Mountain and current threats that the mountain faces. Aurora Lights has partnered with the Blair Pathways  project, which is releasing a CD and a different set of lesson plans about Blair Mountain, in the creation of these new lesson plans. An announcement about our collaboration is here .

Aurora Lights' three-part unit is targeted to middle school students but is adaptable for use by other grade levels. The three lesson plans in the unit are Labor History, Contemporary Threats to Blair Mountain and Working Together to Save Blair Mountain. The lesson plans draw on both new and existing multimedia on the JourneyUpCoalRiver.org site as well as an interactive map  of the Blair battlefield and video from the contemporary march on Blair Mountain. The lesson plans also pose a series of evocative questions about the impacts of mining on the mountain through both a historical and contemporary lens. Each lesson plan meets at least two West Virginia State Content & Objective Standards in Social Studies.

Please take a moment to check out these new lesson plans. If you are interested in using these lesson plans in the classroom, or know of an educator who might like to use them, please contact us. You can also give us feedback on these lesson plans by filling out our Blair Lesson Plans Feedback Form, available on the Aurora Lights web site .

Funding to create this lesson plans and the maps were provided by the West Virginia Humanities Council .

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Native Americans
The Native Americans who lived in the hills of West Virginia, never had horses of their own until explorers began to penetrate the Mountain and settlers brought their own horses to the area. The canoe was a new and important invention to the Late Woodland cultures of the area and was the only transportation other than foot, available to the Late Woodland cultures of West Virginia and surrounding areas. In fact, the horse was not even on the North American continent for thousands of years. Christopher Columbus brought horses to the Continent on his second voyage. The video below, is an artistic tribute to this event in the history of Native Americans. media type="youtube" key="r32UL_1cSOQ?feature=player_detailpage" height="360" width="640"

The American Revolutionary War Click on the link below and follow the directions to learn more about the Stamp Act. media type="custom" key="22879128"