West Virginia became a separate state the same way California would have tosplit into separate states. The people of West Virginia wanted to separatefrom Virginia and Congress wanted them to. In the case of West Virginia itdidnu2019t hurt that the State of Virginia was in rebellion and as far as Congresswas concerned didnu2019t have a legitimate legislature to block separation.Splitting a state into smaller states or joining small states into one largerstate are possible as long as Congress and the state legislatures involvedagree. Donu2019t hold your breath.