[Cheburashka]

You have a point, though West Virginia succeeded from a Confederate State that was, at that time, not part of the Union. I suppose it is possible for a State to fracture and agree to become two States, but not for counties to do so.

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West Virginia did not secede from a Confederate state. There was a Unionist Virginia government in existence in 1863. It agreed to let the western Virginia counties separate from the state and form its own state. All according to the Constitution.

Two other examples are Vermont being allowed by the New York state government to separate and form its own state, and Massachusetts allowing the Maine district to separate and form the State of Maine.

[politicalmerc]

I might point out that “succeeding” and “being allowed to form a separate state” are two wholly different things. One succeeds on your own, when you must ask a different power to let you go it isn’t succession. Compare both of your examples to the Southern State’s succeeding from the Union. They didn’t ask the Union’s permission, they exerted sovereign authority and succeeded. So I appreciate all the West Virginia and Vermont examples but NEITHER of those are a succession.