Secession

For other uses of "Secession", 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 derives from the latin term secessio.

Political secessions

American Revolution

A proposed example of successful secession in the modern era is American Revolutionby which the Thirteen Coloniesseparated 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.

Confederate States of America

Other secession movements include the case of the Southern states of the United Statesseceding 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 Virginiaseceded from the state of Virginia(which had joined the Confederacy) and became the 35th state of the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Courtruled in the 1869case Texas v. Whitethat unilateral secession by a U.S. state was unconstitutional.

Local examples in the United States

Local examples of secession also exist, such as the attempt of Staten Islandto break away from New York Cityin the late-1980sand early 1990s(See: City of Greater New York). San Fernando Valleyrecently 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 Vermontincluding Killingtonare 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 Oregonand northern Californiain 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 peninsulaof 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 Vineyardtried 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 Cascadiain the Pacific Northwest. A less ambitious plan would create a new state from Washingtoneast 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 Readywas another example of local secessionism in the United States.

There are also web sites currently advocating a separate Californianation, and independent nation of Hawaiias well as other sectionsof the United States. A humorous response to an alleged infringement of the Constitutional protection against unlawful search and seizureinspired the brief formation of the Conch Republicin 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.

However, such viewpoints have faced criticism due to the historic strength and intensity of American nationalism, such that calls for separation along contemporary socio-political lines is silly and unwarranted. It should be noted that determination for "blue" and "red" (markers indicating on media outlets whether a state votes Democratic or Republican, respectively) is made by popular vote in the state itself, and many states often come within close margins of their determination (often within the range of 2-5%). Often such calls for the "secession of blue/red states" are used in a satirical manner by those possessing one philosophy to express distaste with another.

Canada

Canadahas had the chronic threat of the province of Quebecseceding in some fashion from the confederation. This has led to two referendumsfor separation (1980, 1995) that have both failed, but the possibility of another remains. See Secession of Quebec. There is also a growing Secessionist sentiment in the province of Alberta, see Alberta Separatism.

Australia

Australia currently has an active secessionist [1]movement in the state of Western Australia. Western Australia has had two referendums for secession in which both have been passed, but due to the constitutional position of the time, the ratification of these referendums needed to be performed by the British Parliamentand authorised by the Queen of Australiawho is also Queen of the United Kingdom. The only other way to secede would be through use of arms which was not a viable option at the time.

[2]There have always been rumblings in WA about being short-changed by the East. Many there felt that the central government was pandering to the business and power interests of its eastern cousins (most notably Sydney and Melbourne), and there was a growing mood that WA was fast becoming the 'Cinderella' State, of contributing more to the federal coffers than it gets back.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdomhas a number of different secession movements:

• In Scotlandthe Scottish National Party(SNP) calls for the independence of Scotlandfrom 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 Walesstands for Welsh independence. It is also represented at all levels of Welsh politics.

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

• In Northern Irelandthere 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 Irish Republic. 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 Kernowcampaigns for self-governmentand the revival of the Cornish language.

World of art

In the world of art, the term Sezessionhas 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 Secessionand the Munich and Berlin Secessions.

See also

• Secession (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• 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
• Scottish Secession Church
• The Great Republic of Rough and Ready
• European Free Alliance

External links

• 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
• American Session Project
• New England Secession: Education and discussion of the possibilities of the New England states seceding from the union.de:Sezession

es:Secesión] fr:Sécession nl:Sezession

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secession Wikipedia article Secession.