Talk:List of U.S. state secession proposals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] New Mexico

As there was no entry for New Mexico, I thought I'd add my two cents. I've heard stories that after the American Civil War, instead of surrendering by state, invididual counties in the Confederacy were required to surrender to Union officers. As Socorro County in New Mexico had a negligible population at the time, no officer was sent, so the county never officially surrendered - making it the only remaining part of the CSA. This is, for all practical purposes, a technicality (if even true) but might make for an interesting entry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.184.23.58 (talk) 17:48, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] West Virginia

While the formation of WV as a new U.S. state is worth a mention here in state secession proposals, I don't agree that WV was technically a U.S. state which seceded from another U.S. state. That is because WV seceded from Virginia, which at that point, had become a Confederate State, and was no longer a United State. (See the opening paragraphs.) In contrast, Maine seceded as a U.S. state from Massachusetts, which was also a U.S. state. This is the only case when this has happened. - Keith D. Tyler June 30, 2005 22:18 (UTC)

Disagree. According to Lincoln and the Constitution, the south had no right to secede. Thus the secesion was void and Virginia was a U.S. state at the time. Since either way is showing a POV, I'm going to reword it so as to point out the controversy. Bsd987 02:49, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
If we accept that that is true, then in fact West Virginia didn't secede at all, because it remained loyal to the Union, and represented itself as the government of Virginia. If there was a Virginia in the Union, then the state represented by that government didn't secede. In that case, it was then present-day Virginia which in fact seceded from present-day West Virginia (and the Union). End result: WV didn't secede, but in fact deliberately did not secede while the other part of Virginia did. Point being; the Wheeler government of Virginia did not attempt to secede; it was in fact attempting not to secede but rather to remain in the Union. It was Confederate Virginia that seceded from United Virginia, which later became known as WV after the war and Reconstruction. - Keith D. Tyler 20:46, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] TOC

I think the TOC on this article would benefit from either being compressed (i.e. custom design, cf. List of rail accidents) or having the text floating alongside it - I know this is possible but can't remember how. I wont do it unilaterally as I have not been involved with this article before. Thryduulf 18:48, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Created a long-overdue state-abbreviation TOC template. - Keith D. Tyler 23:49, August 23, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Florida Panhandle

I remeber that one of my old state history books mentioned that in early Florida history there was a bill to sell the panhandle to Alabama. The alabamaian legislature wasent interested largely due to the cost and pressure from Mobile residents who thought the addition of Pensacola to the state would negatively affect them. Can anyone confrim this with a source and write it up.- Mitrebox

  • Well, according to http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/history/history2.htm, it sounds like this was a unilateral attempt by the land owner, which did not have any popular support. Furthermore, it would have occured prior to Florida statehood. It fails the test for this page on those grounds IMO, but it should be integrated into somewhere else, such as Florida Panhandle or James B. Watson or some such place. - Keith D. Tyler 20:25, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Kansas

Removed

There has been some talk of western Kansas, eastern colorado, and southern Nebraska seceeding and making a "State of the Great Plains"

I've never heard if this, and what's more I couldn't find any reference to it anywhere on the internet. If there is a source (on- or offline) please replace. Cmprince 03:45, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

In my haste, I neglected to reference/link many of the sources I dug up for generating this article. Nearly everything in it was prompted as the result of something found via a search for "secede from (state)" or "secession from (state)" and etc. But only a few of these got a reflink in the article.

This is a call for help for anyone stopping by to help source any unreferenced entries.

TIA, Keith D. Tyler 22:52, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Arizona

Removed:

According to the website Free Republic, Arizona legislatures approved a resolution to secede from the Union in the event that the federal government abolishes the U.S. Constitution, declares martial law, or confiscates firearmes. A three-year member of the Legislature, Karen Johnson, calls the move "an insurance policy" against an increasingly powerful federal government. So far, however, nothing more has come of this proposal.

This is uncited, but undeniably refers to Arizona HCR 2034 [1], which (despite the recycled headlines) does not propose secession -- actually, it proposes dissolution of the federal government, which is much more significant than secession. It also has not been put to a vote according to [2], so it certainly has not been "approved". (So much for the factual integrity of Free Republic.) - Keith D. Tyler (AMA) 21:48, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Oklahoma

The article said that there has been a movement in Tulsa to seperate from Oklahoma because the rest of the state is more rural and isn't as cultural. ...I removed this statement. The only 2 sources to back it up were a public message board where someone jokingly suggested the idea in their discussion, and the other is a blank website. There are no references anywhere on the internet to this statement. --Okiefromokla 17:16, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Lower in that forum, David Arnett refers to an article he wrote "a decade ago" for the Oklahoma Gazette titled "Why Tulsa Wants To Secede From Oklahoma". The OKG's online archives don't go back far enough, alas. - Keith D. Tyler (AMA) 20:21, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
Eastern Oklahoma is a major hub of the state's and country's

American Indian population, due to its historical setting as Indian Territory from 1836 to 1907. The Five Civilized Tribes (i.e. the Cherokee, Choctaw and Creek nations) attempted to establish the State of Sequoyah in 1905 with little success and eventually merged with the state of Oklahoma two years later. The debate is more serious if some members of the AIM (American Indian Movement) in the state sought a separate republic in the eastern half of Oklahoma as the world's first American Indian republic. + 71.102.53.48 (talk) 07:58, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Proposals for new U.S. states

I notice that there are articles about proposals for new states in Canada and Australia but not the U.S. Someone should make one.  :) Laikalynx 02:19, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

There is: 51st state and List of U.S. state secession proposals. —Nightstallion (?) 23:48, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Montgomery County, Maryland

I remember having read a column in The Montgomery Journal in the early eighties, advocating that Montgomery County secede from Maryland and join the District of Columbia in its quest for statehood. It was less a serious proposal than a protest against the way in which Maryland treated the county as a cash cow and was otherwise hostile to the county. I did a quick Web search but didn't find anything. Does anyone recall this or, better, have a cite for something similar? Thanks. Doctor Whom 19:47, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Louisiana

The Free State of Winn. & Winn parish succeded from Louisiana

I can find nothing that shows that Winn parish actualy stayed part of the union. Where is the cite?

I did find this quote

The political sentiment in Winn Parish in early 1861 was generally against secession. David Pierson, a young attorney, was elected to represent the parish at the secession convention called by Governor Moore in Baton Rouge in January 1861. True to his commitment to the folks back home, Pierson voted against secession in all votes taken and refused, along with several others, to change his "no" vote at the end of the process when asked to do so in order that the vote for secession be made unanimous.

His duty done, Pierson then returned to Winn Parish and raised the first company of Confederate volunteers from the parish - Company C, 3rd Louisiana Infantry. Pierson played a prominent role commanding the regiment at Vicksburg and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment.

Without some type of evidence other than one guy that keeps posting this story around the net it should be removed from here and on the winn parish la page and the winnfield la page.

--Sattmaster (talk) 21:42, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Texas

As a long time Texas resident, I have never heard a proposal to separate Houston from the rest of the state. No major media or political group has ever endorsed this, and a Google search for the phrase "city state of Houston" found only 3 references: This article, another writer who is clearly not serious, and a spammy-looking web site.

I also question this statement: "As Houston is relatively less affulent, and has a higher crime in relative to the rest of the state." [sic] Houston has a lower crime rate than Dallas (although higher than Austin). It has a higher income than Laredo, San Antonio, and several other cities. [3]

There have been many humorous and a few serious discussions of dividing Texas, usually into five states. The article could mention this Google Answer: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=760350 Is this a good reference for the Wikipedia?

Otherwise, the current entry should be deleted entirely.

Marzolian 23:36, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Indiana

"During the period leading up to the Civil War, Indiana remained torn between whether or not to join the Confederate States of America or remain with the Union. The state ended up remaining loyal to President Lincoln during the war. Today, there is a very small group that is petitioning to form a Republic of Indiana." where is the source? - signed by an anon IP

[edit] State of Riviera?

<<A proposal to make the Colorado River basin of easternmost California (Imperial, parts of Riverside and San Bernardino) and three western Arizona counties (Mohave, Yuma and La Paz) into a separate state known as Riviera and the possible state capital would be either in Blythe, California or Yuma, Arizona the area's largest city in population.>> Can anyone assist on finding any sources for this rumor? The Colorado River basin has felt distant from state officials in both Sacramento and Phoenix. There are over 600,000 residents in the six-county zone (actually 10,000 square miles of the Riverside/San Bernardino county area) which does qualify for statehood according to requirements in the US constitution. + 71.102.53.48 (talk) 07:55, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Washington, D.C.

The article contained a statement that alleged there are "plans" to merge the District with its surrounding suburban counties and cities. There was no source citation listed. As no plans have actually been made, I am deleting the statement. Quacks Like a Duck (talk) 17:23, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Utah

I made an entry and was deleted in a minute: << Some Utahns like those in the state legislature believe their state could one day be split into two, the future state boundary of Utah (Salt Lake City) and another state, is located somewhere south of Nephi, Utah and represents a lesser populated part of the state. >>

I recall a Utah state senator commented on the likelihood for rural counties located south of Utah County, Utah where Provo is, will separate and become another state. The hypothetical new state of Southern Utah may have less than 500,000 people and the main cities are Cedar City, Utah with Southern Utah college, Salina, Utah in the region's center, and St. George, Utah said to have over 200,000 residents in rapidly-growing Washington County, Utah alone. + 71.102.53.48 (talk) 22:48, 17 May 2008 (UTC)