Secession

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For other uses, see Secession (disambiguation).

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.

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Political secessions

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Confederate States of America

One of the most famous secession movements includes 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 commonly formed out of an older state as the United States grew, such as in the northeast (Maine created out of Massachusetts), the mid-Atlantic (Kentucky created out of Virginia) and then repeatedly in the western territories. 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.

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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.

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American Revolution

A proposed example of successful secession in the modern era is the American Revolution by which the Thirteen Colonies separated from the British Crown. Some argue that this was a secession movement as opposed to a revolution. Revolutions seek to replace current governments or to seek independence from colonial rule, while secession movements seek to separate from current governments in which the party seeking separation already has a voice.

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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). 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 by the outbreak of 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 brief formation 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.

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Canada

Throughout Canada's history there has been tension between the two main founding People's of Canada the French and the English. The Colony of Canada was formed as a union of four colonies into one colony as a transfer of power between the Imperial Parliament and the People of Canada. This allowed one parliament in Canada to pass laws which could be forced onto the territories of the previous seperate colonies. The Provinces of Canada, which had been governed jointly by the Parliament of Canada and the Imperial Parliament since 1867, had been granted sovereignty in 1931 under the Statue of Westminister enacted by the Imperial Parliament. Since then Canada has not had a clearly sovereign constitution. An attempt was made in 1982 by Pierre Trudeau to create a constitution for Canada, which is largely comprised of the BNA Act of 1867 by the Imperial Parliament and the Bill of Rights Act from the Parliament of Canada as well as a formula for amending the constitution. This constitution was ratified by the premiers of 9 provinces and the Queen of England. It was not however ratified by the People of Canada, the People of Quebec or the Province of Quebec. This has lead the legal and political challenge of the Quebec sovereignty movement where a large minority of Quebecers believe their interests and culture can be better served by an independent Quebec which is a friendly nation to Canada. The National Assembly of Quebec has launched two referendums on the sovereignty issue. The first in 1980 and the second in 1995. The second referendum had a very close result of 50.1% no to 49.9% yes. This remains an ongoing issue in Canada and Quebec. The Federal Liberal Party in Quebec has been involved in corruption which adds to the desire for Quebecers to seperate from Canada.

There is also a growing Secessionist sentiment in the province of Alberta, see Alberta Separatism and a provincial secession movement in Northern Ontario, see Northern Ontario Secession Movement.

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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.

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Western Australia

Template:Main 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.

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United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has a number of different secession movements:

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World of art

In the world of art, the term Sezession has been applied to withdrawals from official academies by artists seeking greater freedom to exhibit avant-garde or controversial work. Three such withdrawals occurred in the German-speaking world in the last years of the nineteenth century: the Vienna Secession and the Munich and Berlin Secessions.

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See also

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External links

es:Secesión] fr:Sécession nl:Sezession

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