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.
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
Federalists from northeastern US states informally convened the
Hartford Convention in 1814 to discuss secession from the nation. The end of the
War of 1812 politically destroyed the Federalists.
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 1860-1861One 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,
Missouri, and
Florida). This secession movement brought about the
American Civil War. The regions making up what is now
West Virginia seceded from the state of
Virginia (which had joined the Confederacy) and became the 35th state of the U.S. during the course of the war. 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; this was the basis for the
Union's assertions that the Confederacy was not a sovereign nation but instead a collection of states in revolt. The legitimacy of this court ruling is contested by some historians and legal experts who view the American Civil War as a conflict between two sovereign entities.
Texas secession from Mexico
The Republic of Texas successfully seceded from Mexico in 1836. In 1845 Texas joined the United States as a full-fledged state. Mexico refused to recognize Texas independence and warned the U.S. that annexation meant war, which broke out in 1846.
Failed minor 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. Advocates in the
upper peninsula of
Michigan, with off and on intensity, have called for it to become a separate 51st state. 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. It should be noted that after the
American Civil War, Congress passed legislation outlawing the act of secession by any state in the Union. 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.
Canada
See main article: Secessionist movements of Canada.Throughout
Canada's history, there has been tension between
English-speaking and
French-speaking Canadians. 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
Western Separatism).
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 seceeded from Sweden by the Karlstad Conventions of September 1905.
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.
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. However, the group in recent years has relaxed it's stance on independence and moreso focuses on improving and rebuilding aspects of Welsh culture such as the Welsh language.
* 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.
* 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.
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.
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 seceeded from Somalia in 1991. To date, it is unrecognized by the UN, nor any other state except Ethiopia.
*
Declaration of Independence*
Hartford Convention*
Nullification*
Secession of Quebec*
Separatism*
South Carolina Exposition and Protest*
United States of Canada*
Christian Exodus*
New York City secession*
Second Vermont Republic*
Scottish Secession Church*
The Great Republic of Rough and Ready*
European Free Alliance*
Essex Junto*
List of unrecognized countries*
List of historical autonomist and secessionist movements*
List of active autonomist and secessionist movements*
List of U.S. state secession proposals*
List of U.S. county secession proposals*
Urban secession*
Secession (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)*
Secession - from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica*
Secession - from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia*
Website on short-lived effort to create Jefferson State on the U.S. west coast*
SECESSION.NET-Creating a worldwide Secession Network Right to secede*
secession search*
American Session Project*
New England Secession: Education and discussion of the possibilities of the New England states seceding from the union.*
The Worldwide Confederation of Independent States Treaty Organization: dedicated to the principle of the primacy of secession as a right.
