Ebook: Bringing down the mountains: the impact of mountaintop removal surface coal mining on southern West Virginia communities, 1970-2004

Excerpt from Sectionalism in Virginia From 1776 to 1861
The history of Virginia has been characterized by sectional antagonism. The natural features of her territory and the different elements in her population made such conflicts inevitable. In the early colonial days, even before population, advanced into the Piedmont, the frontier settlers chafed under the rule of the Older and more aristocratic planters. As population extended to the westward and became more diverse in nationality, the contrasts and conflicts between the Older and newer societies became more pronounced.