The Secession and the Civil War were the culmination of decades of sectional conflict between the North and South over slavery, states' rights, tariffs, territorial expansion, and cultural differences. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 triggered a wave of secession by eleven southern states that formed the Confederate States of America (Starr, 1985). Virginia was one of them, joining the Confederacy on April 17, 1861, after President Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion (Starr, 1985). Virginia was a key battleground in the Civil War, hosting many major battles such as First Bull Run (Manassas), Antietam (Sharpsburg), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (in Pennsylvania), Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg (Siege), Appomattox Court House. Virginia also served as the capital of the Confederacy, with Richmond as its seat of government until it fell to Union forces on April 3, 1865. The Civil War devastated Virginia's economy, infrastructure, population, and social order. It also divided its people along political and geographic lines. Many Virginians remained loyal to the Union or neutral during the war. Some regions such as western Virginia seceded from Virginia itself and formed a new state called West Virginia in 1863 (Starr, 1985).