A Brief and Incomplete History of Secession in the United States

The idea of a part of a State breaking off from another part of a State is not unique. Vermont was formed from counties which seceded from New York in 1777. Until then it was just another part of New York. Maine seceded from Massachusetts in 1819. Until then it was just a part of Massachusetts even though there was no contiguous land connection, New Hampshire being situated between them. Maine, formerly a part of Massachusetts, was admitted to the Union as a State in 1820. This is partly why there are only thirteen original colonies, but they ultimately made sixteen of our current States.

When the Constitution was written, Article 4 section 3 states that “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.” This language does not explicitly preclude the possibility of forming a new State from part of a single State, so Maine and West Virginia were both broken off from their original States after the Constitution was ratified. The division of Maine did have the ultimate but reluctant approval of the Massachusetts legislature. But the division of West Virginia was treasonous act and part of the act of aggression of the Union against the State of Virginia. In 1863 local Wheeling, Virginia politicians had colluded with the government of the North to stage a vote and break the western counties of Virginia into a new State. Many people whose sympathies were with the cause of the Confederacy would not vote because they did not recognize the United States government, while Federal troops had also driven many pro-Confederates out of their homes before the election, so the validity of the election is highly questionable.

THE REAGAN SACRED COW

By Gregory Kay

(Originally published about 20 years ago: Updated version, 2023)

Sometimes – well, to be honest, usually – it’s the best-intentioned people that really set me off. Inevitably, I suppose, since I’ve little patience with Orwellian double-think, less for those practicing it, and none for the ones who should know better: namely White Nationalists, Southerners among us in particular, who worship Ronald Reagan as… as one of them referred to him… “a Godsend.” I’ve got news for these folks; God sends a lot of things, including plague, flood, fire…and tyranny.

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Reagan was a likable guy, no question about it: classy, charismatic, usually doing his lines with great aplomb. However, that goes with the territory of a trained, career showman. Remember, an actor is one who makes a living playing convincing parts as a thing he’s not. Around here we call that a BS artist (usually a hawker making some sales pitch), and no doubt Ronald Wilson Reagan was good at it. Not only did he play his part as “a conservative,” but, despite creeping Alzheimer’s, recited the lines his handlers gave him very well. People tend to forget that he was neither a conservative nor writing the script.

For those of you frothing at the mouth right now because you liked the things he said, let’s step back and take a look at what he and that administration actually did – before, during, and after his tenure as President of the United States...