Another source of confusion and misinformation over the years has been the wording of the annexation resolution of 1845 that Texas could in the future divide into “new states of comfortable size not exceeding four in number, in addition to this state of Texas.” But the wording of the resolution is that only Texas could be divided into five new states. It says nothing about a split with the United States. Only Congress has the power to admit new states to the Union, most recently in 1959 with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii. In short, no. Shocking, right? Every Texan born and raised in our great state has heard the old adage that Texas is the only state that can secede. Garner was the last prominent politician to support the partition of Texas, but the idea still lives on as a hypothetical in the obsessive blue and red card game of political junkies. In 2009, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight engineered a fantastic five-way split that created three Republican mini-Texas, a blue state along the Rio Grande, and a swing state around Austin. “Let`s Mess With Texas,” a 2004 article in the Texas Law Review, argued that astute Texas Republicans could use the New States Clause of 1845 to fight their way to eight more U.S. Senate seats and electoral votes. A response from Ralph H. Brock, former director of the Texas State Bar, argued that the New States Clause violated the Supreme Court`s doctrine of equality. Neither the Texas Constitution nor the United States Constitution expressly or implicitly prohibits the secession of Texas (or any other “free and independent state”) from the United States.

Membership in the “Union” has always been voluntary, making voluntary withdrawal an equally legal and viable option (regardless of what self-proclaimed academic, media or government “experts” – including Abraham Lincoln himself – may have said). When Congress redrew the northern and western borders of Texas as part of the Compromise of 1850 and paid Texas $10 million for what became eastern New Mexico and parts of four other states, the law included a line that retained the new states clause. But a proposal to divide Texas into two states on the Brazos River failed in the state legislature in 1852 by a vote of 33 to 15. Most of their supporters came from east Brazos, another example of grievances prevalent between East and West Texas. Each accused the other of incompetence and negligence. But that dispute lost because of Texans` pride in their shared history. “What state would make the emblem of a single star?” asked the Texas State Gazette. “Who will abandon the blood-stained walls of the Alamo?” According to Sanford Levinson, a government professor at the University of Texas, the simple answer is that no, Texas cannot secede because states do not have that right. The idea that Texas could share and capture eight more Senate seats appeals to the image Texans have of themselves as a single, sprawling, powerful state. But that same confidence will prevent the Texans from really trying. “I might add that the same element of the [Texas GOP] platform advocates cancellation. This idea came from John Calhoun, the arch-defender of slavery.

I think that says something. Secession and independence have been recurring themes throughout the history of Texas, which seceded from Mexico in 1836 and was an independent republic before being annexed by the United States in 1845. When the United States was torn apart by disagreements over whether slavery could spread to the western territories of the country, Texas voted to secede from the Union in 1861. In the ensuing civil war, up to 750,000 people died, more than 2 percent of all Americans. After the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, Texas was officially readmitted to the Union in 1870 during the Reconstruction period. The Court`s decision meant that no state could now secede from the Union. The idea is most often raised by state conservatives who are angry at some sort of federal government policy — and calls seem to become more frequent when a Democrat occupies the White House. State Representative Kyle Biedermann, R-Fredericksburg, on Tuesday introduced a bill to create a referendum election over whether Texans should establish a joint legislative committee to develop a plan to achieve Texas independence.

Similarly, each of the United States is explicitly “united” with the others on the principle that “governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed” and “whenever a form of government becomes destructive for these purposes [i.e., the protection of life, liberty, and property], it is the right of the people to change or abolish it and install a new government” and “when a long train of abuse and usurpation.” shows a plan to reduce them to absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to drop such a government and provide new guards for their future security. [3] Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that Congress must approve all new states. But Texas` request for exemption stemmed directly from the Joint Congressional Resolution of 1845, which incorporated Texas into the Union. It states: “New states of reasonable size not exceeding four persons, in addition to this State of Texas and of a sufficient population, may hereafter be formed with the consent of this State from the territory entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution.” Proponents of the partition of Texas say it means Congress has pre-approved a separation. The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM), led by Daniel Miller, evolved in 2005 from one of the factions of the former Republic of Texas. [27] [28] [29] However, the organization distanced itself from the tactics of the Republic of Texas and McLaren, opting instead of a political solution rather than one of confrontation or violence. [28] The group has county-level groups in most areas of the state. [30] The increase in membership of the Texas nationalist movement coincided with other current events related to secession that were not part of this organization.

Governor Rick Perry raised the possibility of secession at a political rally in 2009. During the rally, many in the crowd began chanting “Secession, Secession,” to which Perry remarked, “If Washington continues to turn its nose up at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of it?” [28] [38] Perry later clarified that the comment was ironic and did not support secession. [33] His remarks sparked controversy[38] and sharp criticism from government officials and experts such as Jeff Macke and Joe Weisental. [39] But Southerners rejected this proposal as too restrictive for slavery. Instead, Isaac Van Zandt, the Republic of Texas` top diplomat in Washington, lobbied for the Four New States Clause as a pro-Southern alternative. “Van Zandt. became very intimate with senators and representatives from the South,” wrote Weston Joseph McConnell in the 1925 book Social Cleavages in Texas. Van Zandt, like the Southerners, believed that dividing Texas into a group of states would give more power to the South. Texas` admission to the Union, including the New States clause, passed Congress by a vote of 120 to 98.

The only concession to the North: slavery would be banned in all states north of the Missouri Compromise Line. Another section of the proposed platform states that Texas “retains the right to secede from the United States.” “Texas is politically, culturally and economically different from the United States as a whole,” Miller said. “Texans, by and large, believe in very limited government, great economic freedom, and absolute personal freedom.” Garner`s idea went nowhere. But the congressman from Uvalde, in the mountainous region west of San Antonio, continued a long West Texas tradition of turning the Lone Star State into a constellation. The division of Texas into several small Texas was seriously considered when Texas became a state and for decades thereafter. The idea survives today as an oddity in American law, a remnant of Texas` brief history as an independent nation. It`s also a special part of Texas` identity as a state so large it could split — though it likes its own size too much to do. After Perry`s comments were covered in the news, Rasmussen Reports found that about 1 in 3 respondents believed Texas had the right to secede from the United States, even though only 18 percent would support secession and 75 percent would oppose secession. [40] In another poll, 60% of Texans surveyed were against an independent nation. However, 48 percent of Republicans surveyed in Texas supported him. [41] [42] The reaction from outside the state was also sharply divided, including those who wanted to get rid of Texas.

[38] Discussion of U.S. law.