Why Are There Two Of Some American States Like The Dakotas?

I think every kid wonders when they’re memorizing states and capitals for the first time, why there are two Carolinas, two Dakotas, and two Virginias but only one of everything else.

And it’s a great question.

First up, the Dakotas.

The Dakota territory was established as part of the United States in 1861 and yes, it was huge compared to the other established states.

It originally contained not only both Dakotas but also most of the territory that now belongs to Montana and Wyoming as well.

In 1868, the size shrank as Idaho and Wyoming became their own territories, and in 1871, the Dakotas split in two.

The root cause of the split boiled down to a mixture of colonialism and capitalism.

Before the mid-1860s, interactions between the Native people and white settlers (who were few) were positive.

That all changed in 1874 when the gold rush began in earnest, according to PBS.

“The Treaty of Fort Laramie granted the Sioux nation ownership of the Black Hills, which were considered sacred grounds for the Sioux (also known as the Lakota) and Cheyenne Indians. There the Native Americans would live on the newly-created Great Sioux Reservation.”

But when General Custer went to investigate the natural resources of the area, the Sioux and Cheyanne’s interests fell by the wayside.

“The expedition’s confirmation of gold in the region drew thousands of whites to the Black Hills, ultimately fueling tensions between the whites and the Native Americans, leading to the Great Sioux war of 1876 and Custer’s Last Stand.”

The south of the Territory great exponentially by 1880 while the north remained relatively ignored. The south viewed the north as “too much controlled by the wild folks, cattle ranches, fur traders,” according to history professor Kimberly Porter. “The south half did not like the north half.”

The south tried for statehood on their own, but were told to try as one large Dakota, or wait until both halves were populous enough to qualify.

That happened in 1889, when President Harrison signed the two states into the union.

Next, the Virginias.

“Virginia” was originally the name for the parts of North America that had been claimed by the English. In the 1609 Second Charter of Virginia, that land stretched from “the Point of Land, called Cape or Point Comfort, all along the Sea Coast to the Northward, two hundred miles and all along the Sea Coast to the Southward, two hundred Miles, and all that Space and Circuit of Land, lying from the Sea Coast of the Precinct aforesaid, up into the Land throughout from Sea to Sea, West and Northwest.”

In today’s map, that’s all of the United States plus some of Canada for good measure.

The colony of Virginia shrank into roughly the size it is today if you added the two states together.

The Civil War is what split Virginia into its eastern and western halves, and the whole ordeal was pretty grim, says author Mark Stein.

“West Virginia became a state in the midst of the Civil War. Previously, it had been part of Virginia, but after Virginia seceded from the Union, western Virginia seceded from Virginia.”

Of course, even though secession was illegal, they had a good reason.

“The short answer is that the region opposed slavery, but there was more to it than that. Voting rights at the time were based on property ownership, including people, and so while obviously not the worst-off in the situation, Virginians who didn’t own slaves were being systematically disenfranchised by those who did.”

Because slaves counted as three-fifths of a person, slave owners votes would buy them greater representation in Washington.

So when Virginia seceded, the western part of the state stayed loyal to the union, and became a state in 1863. Their state’s constitution emancipated the slaves who lived there.

President Lincoln wasn’t happy about the precedent, but acknowledged that “the admission of the new State turns that much slave soil to free; and thus, is a certain and irrevocable encroachment upon the cause of the rebellion.”

Last, how did we end up with two Carolinas?

The split of the Carolinas was significantly less contentious than the other two, according to author and historian Mark Stein.

“South Carolina was originally joined with North Carolina as, simply, the Carolina Colony. King Charles I issued Carolina’s initial charter in 1629 to reward a political ally named Robert Heath, granting to Heath all the land between the St. Mathias River (now known as the St. Mary’s River) on the south, the middle of Albemarle Sound on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west.”

Heath wasn’t interested, and seeing how the Carolinas were full of disease, rebellion, Native American conflict, and piracy, well…who could blame him?

In 1663, England took the property back, and moved settlers into the colony. There were two of them: Albemarle Sound in the north, and Charleston in the south.

There were demographic differences between the two that did include slave ownership but there was also a great distance (400 miles) between the two.

“The distance separating these regions, along with differences in the background and prosperity of their settlers, created an increasing strain on the colonial government.”

They were divided without fanfare in 1712.

As with most things in Colonial America, the Native Americans are the ones who suffered the most.

So, now you know.

You now have more fun bits of American history trivia to drop at dinner parties.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about 50 amazing finds on Google Earth.