In the aftermath of the June 2016 referendum allowing the United Kingdom to leave the European
Union, some back in the United States have started wondering if they can do it too.
In particular, the long standing Texas independence movement, which dates back to when Texas was
still a part of Mexico, has seen a huge resurgence.
More than a quarter of a million people have allegedly pledged their vote to secede, according
to the Texas Nationalist Movement.
But is secession even possible?
Could Texas see their own version of Brexit?
A Texit?
Well, as a matter of a fact, for about ten years in the mid 1800s, The Republic of Texas
was an independent, sovereign country.
This came about after the Texas Revolution in 1835 as a result of more and more Americans
moving into the Mexican province of Texas, and clashing with the Mexican government.
But Texas the country was sort of a failure.
It amassed a huge national debt and was barely able to police or defend itself.
It did, however maintain a quiet trade relationship with the British, which had a foreign policy
of excluding countries which supported slavery.
British influence threatened to abolish slavery in Texas, which would undermine the American
slave trade.
So, to avoid potentially losing slavery, the US negotiated the annexation of Texas as the
28th state in 1845.
Since then, Texas has integrated a cultural independence movement from the rest of the
US, and today it has reared its head once again.
So, since Texas used to be its own country, is there some legal way for it to become one
again?
Well, technically, the US constitution doesn’t expressly allow or prohibit state secession.
Some argue that certain passages imply one or the other, but there is no clear delineation.
Usually, when that happens, it is up to the Supreme Court to decide on the topic, which
indirectly came up in 1869, just 24 years after the annexation.
The case of Texas v. White was based on the argument that during the Civil War, Texas
had seceded alongside the rest of the Confederate states, and thus any actions it had taken
were as a seceded state.
But the Supreme Court found that just because they’d said they seceded didn’t make it
so, and based on the Articles of Confederation, the United States is a “perpetual union”.
Thus, no state can secede simply through actions or declarations by that state.
In the end, no matter how many resolutions, or conferences, or legal maneuvering, there’s
no clear way for a state to secede.
And despite how popular of a topic Texan secession has been, an overwhelming majority of Texans
have no real interest in leaving the United States.
Just 18% said they would vote to secede, with 75% voting to stay in a Rasmussen poll.
So even if Texas could legally secede, it almost certainly wouldn’t anyway.
But let’s say the Supreme Court reverses itself and allows Texas to secede, could the
new Republic stand on it’s own?
Just how powerful is Texas?
Find out by watching this video!
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