# 1667 - 1976 13c State Flags: West Virginia

U.S. 1667
1976 West Virginia
State Flags
American Bicentennial Series

• First time a sheet 50 had all different stamp designs
• Part of the American Bicentennial Series

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: American Bicentennial Series
Value: 13¢ First-class postage rate
First Day of Issue: February 23, 1976
First Day City(s): Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 8,720,100 (panes of 50)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Sheet of 50
Perforations: 11

Why the stamp was issued:
    The United States Postal Service celebrated the American Bicentennial with a full pane of the Union’s fifty state flags.

About the stamp design:
     Against a white field bordered in dark blue, West Virginia's flag pictures a rock inscribed June 20, 1863, the day West Virginia became a state. Two men represent farming and mining, with two rifles below them with "Liberty Cap" written on the rifles. A ribbon includes the state motto " Mountainiers Are Always Free".

About the printing process:
    Printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on their seven-color Andreotti gravure press (601) which was their work horse for multicolored stamps.

About the American Bicentennial Series:
    In the 1970s, America celebrated its 200th anniversary with hundreds of national events commemorating the heroes and historic events that led to our nation’s independence from Great Britain. The U.S. Postal Service issued 113 commemorative stamps over a six-year period in honor of the U.S. bicentennial, beginning with the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Emblem stamp (U.S. #1432). As a group, the Bicentennial Series chronicles one of our nation’s most important chapters, and remembers the events and patriots who made the U.S. a world model for liberty.

    Several of the stamps honored colonial life – craftsmen and communication. Other stamps honored important battles including Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga. Significant events such as the Boston Tea Party, the meeting of the First Continental Congress, and the Declaration of Independence were featured as well. The stamps also honored many significant people such as George Washington, Sybil Ludington, Salem Poor, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

    Many of the stamps feature classic artwork. For instance, the set of four souvenir sheets picture important events recreated by noted artists such as John Trumbull. The Bicentennial Series also includes an important US postal first – the first 50-stamp se-tenant – featuring all 50 state flags. The format proved to be popular with collectors, and has been repeated many times since.

    The American Bicentennial Series is packed with important US history – it tells the story of our nation’s fight for independence through stamps.

History the stamp represents:
    On June 20, 1863, West Virginia joined the Union as the 35th state.

    A group of Indians known as the Mound Builders were the earliest-known inhabitants of West Virginia. They constructed huge earth burial mounds, many of which still exist today. Later, the Cherokee, Iroquois, and Shawnee tribes arrived in the region. These Woodlands Indians lived in the West Virginia area during the summer, and then moved back into the northeast as winter approached. Many of the Indians in West Virginia were killed during tribal conflicts and through epidemics of smallpox. When Europeans arrived in the region, they found it sparsely populated.

    King James I granted the colony of Virginia to the Virginia Company of London in 1606. Virginia was defined as running from South Carolina to Virginia, and extending westward and northwestward indefinitely. A German doctor and explorer, John Lederer, was probably the first Virginian to enter today’s West Virginia. His expedition reached the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1669. Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam led another expedition into the area in 1671.

    Germans from Pennsylvania came to the region searching for greater religious freedom. They established a settlement in 1727, called New Mecklenburg – today’s Shepherdstown. However, Morgan Morgan is believed to be the first European to settle in West Virginia. Around 1731, Morgan built a cabin at Bunker Hill.

    Indians frequently attacked the remote communities. The Settler’s built blockhouses and forts to protect themselves. These centralized buildings formed the beginnings of many towns and cities, such as Fort Henry (today’s Wheeling), Fort Lee (today’s Charleston), and Fort Randolph (today’s Point Pleasant). In 1768, the Iroquois and Cherokee signed treaties and relinquished their claims to these lands. By 1775, 30,000 whites lived in West Virginia.

    Although it was part of Virginia, the settlers in what is today West Virginia were separated from the rest of the colony by the Allegheny Mountains. The people in the west had a much different way of life than the wealthier people in the east. Also, the people in the west received less representation in the government. As early as 1776, this area had begun to demand its own government, but this effort stalled during the Revolutionary War.

    After the Civil War started in South Carolina on April 12, 1861, Virginia formed a state convention to decide which side to join. The convention voted for secession on April 17, 1861. However, most of the counties in the west sided with the Union. These counties declared their independence and formed the Restored Government of Virginia. In August, these counties formed the state of Kanawha, from an Indian word meaning “white stone” – due to the region’s salt deposits. By November, a state constitution was prepared, and the name for the proposed state in this document was West Virginia. In April 1862, the people adopted the Constitution. After submitting the admission application to the federal government, Lincoln approved it, on the condition that they gradually abolish slavery. They revised the constitution and resubmitted it in 1863. President Lincoln approved it, and West Virginia achieved statehood on June 20, 1863.