Secession

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Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity. Typically there is a strong issue difference that drives the withdrawal. The word is derived from the Latin term secessio.

Western Hemisphere Secessions and near-secessions

American revolutions

Perhaps the most famous successful secession in the modern era is the US American Revolution, in which Thirteen Colonies successfully fought for independence from the British Crown. Strictly speaking, this was secession as opposed to a revolution. Revolutions seek to replace current governments, while secession movements merely seek separation from current governments. This was not the only instance of secession, as the independence of Latin American countries were also examples of secession (from Spain).

Northeast US and the Hartford Convention

In response to Thomas Jefferson's and James Madison's draconian suppression of trade, several northeastern US states convened the Hartford Convention in 1814 to discuss secession from the nation. If the War of 1812 had not ended shortly after the convention with the Treaty of Ghent, secession would have been a distinct possibility.

South Carolina

During the presidential term of Andrew Jackson, South Carolina had its own semi-seccession movement due the "Tariffs of Abomination" which threatened both South Carolina's economy and the Union. Andrew Jackson also threatened to send Federal Troops to put down the movement and to hang the leader of the secessionists from the highest tree in South Carolina. Also due to this, Jackson's vice president, John C Calhoun, who supported the movement and wrote the essay "The South Carolina Exposition And Protest", became the first US vice-president to resign.

Confederate States of America

Category:Secession crisis of 1860-1861

One of the most famous unsuccessful secession movements was the case of the Southern states of the United States seceding to form the Confederate States of America (states that seceded include Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). Less dramatically, new U.S. states were occasionally formed out of older states as the United States grew, such as in the northeast (Maine created out of Massachusetts) and the mid-Atlantic (Kentucky created out of Virginia). The formation of such states are not typically considered secessionist because they were officially accepted by the parent state and the national government. During the American Civil War, West Virginia seceded from the state of Virginia (which had joined the Confederacy) and became the 35th state of the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1869 case Texas v. White that unilateral secession by a U.S. state was unconstitutional and that it had no force in (statutory) law.

Texas secession from Mexico

The Republic of Texas successfully seceded from Mexico in 1836. In 1845 Texas joined the United States by plebiscite, largely motivated by perceived threats of an attack by Mexico.

Local examples in the United States

Local examples of secession also exist, such as the attempt of Staten Island to break away from New York City in the late-1980s and early 1990s (See: City of Greater New York). Around the same time, there was a similar movement to separate Northeast Philadelphia from the rest of the city of Philadelphia, presumably with a new name as well. San Fernando Valley recently lost a vote to separate from Los Angeles in 2002 but has seen an increased attention to its infrastructure needs (See: San Fernando Valley secession movement). Several cities in Vermont including Killington are currently exploring a secession request to allow them to join New Hampshire over claims that they are not getting adequate return of state resources from their state tax contributions.

There have been other modern secessionist movements to create new states. There was a short-lived effort to create a Jefferson State out of counties in southern Oregon and northern California in 1941, in part motivated by requests for better roads, but it was quickly shelved when the United States entered World War II. Advocates in the upper peninsula of Michigan, with off and on intensity, have called for it to become a separate 51st state. A movement in Western Massachusetts, harkening back to Shays' Rebellion, seeks to secede from Massachusetts. In 1977, Martha's Vineyard tried to secede from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (it also tried to secede from the United States and become an independent nation) along with the island of Nantucket. There have been calls for formation of Cascadia in the Pacific Northwest. A less ambitious plan would create a new state from Washington east of the Cascade Mountains, along with northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and possibly northeastern Oregon. It would be centered on Spokane, Washington (the largest city in the region), and called "Columbia" after the Columbia River.

The Great Republic of Rough and Ready was another example of local secessionism in the United States.

There are also web sites currently advocating a separate California nation, and independent nation of Hawaii as well as other sections of the United States. A humorous response to an alleged infringement of the Constitutional protection against unlawful search and seizure inspired the failed secession of the Conch Republic in the Florida Keys.

Many articles after the 2004 Presidential election questioned whether the so-called "blue" and "red" states can continue to co-exist or ever reconcile or if they might be drifting toward irreparable policy differences and social conflict and possible future separation. Alternatively it is possible the political conflict may result in gradual diminution of the federal government- for lack of a true national consensus - and perhaps a greater emphasis on state rights to permit them to chart more of their own domestic agendas while maintaining the federal union for a more limited set of national actions than undertaken today and for international purposes.

Such viewpoints have faced criticism. The historical strength and intensity of American nationalism means that calls for separation along contemporary socio-political lines are not taken too seriously. Determination for "blue" and "red" (markers indicating on media outlets whether a state votes Democratic or Republican, respectively) is made on the popular vote in the state itself; and many states are often close (within the range of 2-5%). Calls for the "secession of blue/red states" are typically used in a satirical or partisan manner.

Canada

See main article: Secessionist movements of Canada.

Throughout Canada's history, there has been tension between English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians. Under the Constitutional Act of 1791, the Quebec colony (including parts of what is today Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador) was divided in two: Lower Canada (which retained French law and institutions, including seigneurial land tenure, and the privileges accorded to the Roman Catholic church) and Upper Canada (a new colony intended to accommodate the many English-speaking settlers, known as the United Empire Loyalists, who had arrived from the United States following the American Revolution). In 1841, the two Canadas were merged into the Province of Canada. The union proved contentious, however, leading to the adoption of a federal system in Canada, and the Canadian Confederation in 1867. Tensions remained between Canada's two main linguistic groups, however, leading to the Quebec sovereignty movement in the latter half of the 20th century.

Other secessionist movements have also existed from time to time in Canada, including anti-Confederation movements in 19th century Atlantic Canada (see Anti-Confederation Party), the North-West Rebellion of 1885, and various small separatism movements in Alberta particularly (see Alberta Separatism) and Western Canada generally (see //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secessionist_movements_of_Canada#Western_Canada).

Central American secession from Mexico

Central America seceeded from Mexico in 1823 and formed a federation. The members of the federation dissolved in 1839.

Norway's secession from Sweden

Norway seceeded from Sweden by the Karlstad Conventions of September 1905.

Australia

During the nineteenth century the first British colony in Australia, New South Wales was progressively divided up as white settlement spread over the land; Victoria separated in 1851 and Queensland in 1859. Further agitation to divide the colonies occurred throughout the later part of the nineteenth century; particularly in Central Queensland (centred in Rockhampton) in the 1860s and 1890s and in North Queensland (with Bowen as a potential colonial capital) in the 1870s. Other secession (or territorial separation) movements took place around the same time, centred around Deniliquin in the Riverina district and Mount Gambier in the eastern part of South Australia.

Western Australia

An active secession movement exists in Western Australia where a 1933 referendum for secession from the Federation of Australia passed with a two-thirds majority. The referendum had to be ratified by the British Parliament and authorized by the Queen of Australia who is also Queen of the United Kingdom. The request was ultimately declined on the grounds that it would contravene the Australian Constitution.

Other Western Australian pushes for secession have surfaced from time to time.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has a number of different secession movements:

In Scotland the Scottish National Party (SNP) calls for the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom, with continuing membership of the European Union. It has representation at all levels of Scottish politics.

In Wales, Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales stands for Welsh independence. It is also represented at all levels of Welsh politics.

In England there are a number of small movements that call for a separate devolved English parliament or full independence from the United Kingdom, among them the English Democrats Party and the Campaign for an English Parliament. None of these have made any significant electoral impact. The Conservative Party has called for non-English MPs to be excluded from voting when a matter solely concerns England, as a solution to the West Lothian question—a call which SNP and Plaid Cymru MPs also support. However the Conservative party is still an avowedly Unionist party, indeed its official name is the Conservative and Unionist Party.

In Northern Ireland there is no significant constituency for secession from both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. A small group Ulster Nation, linked with Third Way, has called for independence from both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The now defunct Ulster Democratic Party - linked to the Protestant paramillitary group the Ulster Defence Association - was also officially in favour of independence although it never seems to have actively campaigned on the subject.

In Cornwall, Mebyon Kernow campaigns for self-government and the revival of the Cornish language, but not for Cornish independence from the United Kingdom.

China

Currently, the Republic of China (ROC) government, which ruled mainland China before 1949, administers Taiwan and a few surrounding islands, while the People's Republic of China (PRC) government administers mainland China. Both sides officially claim sovereignty over both mainland China and Taiwan. There is debate in Taiwan as to whether to create a new Republic of Taiwan to displace or replace the current ROC government. This is supported by the Pan-Green Coalition in Taiwan, but is opposed by the Pan-Blue Coalition in Taiwan which supports continuing the ROC as is, and the PRC government which regards Taiwan as a part of its territory. See Taiwan independence.

Within the PRC, the two western regions of Xinjiang and Tibet are also the focus of strong secessionist calls, which are strongly suppressed within the PRC. The dispute is a result of the unique ethnic, cultural, and religious characters of the two regions, as well as differences between the two sides in the interpretation of the history, political status, and human rights situation in the regions. See International Tibet Independence Movement and East Turkestan independence movement.

Secession in Former Yugoslavia

Croatia, Slovenia, and later Bosnia and Herzegovina have decided to secede from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which resulted in bloody Yugoslav wars of secession. The problem was that Serbs, who were a constituent nation of Croatia (until their status was unilateraly changed in 1990, against federal constitution) and Bosnia and Herzegovina were against secession. Macedonia, on the other hand, seceded peacefully, not violating the federal constitution. In 2006, Montenegro succeeded in seceeding from Serbia, finally putting an end to the forced unification called "Yugoslavia" initiated after WWII.

Breakup of the USSR

Numerous entities seceeded from the hegemony of Russia as the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s. These include:

Baltic states: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
The Transcaucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Eastern European states of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

See Post-Soviet States.

Somaliland

Somaliland seceeded from Somalia in 1991. To date, it is unrecognized by the UN, nor any other state except Ethiopia.

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