[Blood of Tyrants]

Article IV of the US Constitution requires any changes to a state’s boundaries to be approved by the State legislature and Congress.

West Virginia seceded from Virginia in the Civil War without receiving permission from Virginia.

[Publius]

The secession from Virginia received permission from the Wheeling government that claimed loyalty to the Union, as opposed to the Richmond government that claimed loyalty to the Confederacy. Lincoln -- obviously -- recognized the Wheeling government as the legitimate government of Virginia.

The Supreme Court took the case after the Civil War and accepted the legitimacy of the creation of West Virginia.