How did West Virginia get its name?
Some say it’s the best Virginia, but West Virginia might once have been known as Westsylvania, or as the more grandiloquent Vandalia. So what happened? Find out here, with West Virginia native Catherine Moore. Also explore Franklin, other American states-that-could-have-been, and fictional American states.
Laboratories of Democracy: The State of the States
In its early years, the US wasn’t so much “United” as “States.” Power has steadily shifted to the federal government, but states have continued to assert independence on important issues. If we’re all Americans, why do states still matter?
