Looking for Info on Secession and Inspiration from Literature, Film, TV

March 23, 2016 9:41 AM

Hey Brilliants, I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of spring! I am researching a new project on secession and am looking for examples in literature, film, tv, etc. of stories that are about a US state or city trying to secede from the union. I'm somewhat aware of Texas' ability to secede but am wondering if anyone has written anything about what would happen if another state or city tried to secede. Thanks so much :)

My google and library searches are coming up inconclusive so I'm hoping your minds will help me think of any examples out there!

posted by sunnyblues48 to Law & Government (17 answers total)

There is the Second Vermont republic which wishes to make Vermont an independent country again.
posted by koolkat at 9:53 AM on March 23, 2016

Northern Michigan has been talking about seceding from the state since the 1850s. They'd still want to be part of the US, but as a separate state.
posted by Kriesa at 9:59 AM on March 23, 2016

I read Out! The Vermont Secession Book as a kid.
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 10:11 AM on March 23, 2016

Fiction or nonfiction? And the obvious answer here is any of the many thousands of things that have been written about the American Civil War, so I assume you mean besides that or in a more contemporary context?

Wikipedia has a list of active separatist movements in North America, dig into the links to find more sources.
posted by Wretch729 at 10:12 AM on March 23, 2016

Texas doesn't have any special ability to secede. Apparently it could split itself into five states though, which would be pretty interesting.
posted by mikepop at 10:19 AM on March 23, 2016

Classic fictional account of California, Oregon and Washington state seceding from the US: Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
posted by lois1950 at 10:21 AM on March 23, 2016

Ah, North Dakota Secession: that's where I'm a viking!

In the span of a few months in the 1930s, North Dakota took legal steps to secede twice: once was purely symbolic, but the other may have technically succeeded. When the governor calls out the National Guard, declares martial law, and drafts and signs a Declaration of Independence, I don't know what is missing to call it a legitimate secession. They didn't call the governor "Wild Bill" for nothing.

Full disclosure: The Infomercantile is my website, but there is no other source as thorough.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:06 AM on March 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

Wikipedia: Secession in the United States is a good place to start.
posted by desuetude at 11:16 AM on March 23, 2016

If you want some international examples to broaden your perspective, you could look at the Western Australia secessionist movement, particularly the 1933 referendum. Australia, like the US, is a federation of states, so there are some parallels here.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 11:52 AM on March 23, 2016

There's a history of secessionist movements in New York State (wikipedia), often falling along downstate vs. upstate lines. More recently there's been a (small) movement calling for the division of NY into two autonomous regions: "New York" and "New Amsterdam" because guns and fracking.
posted by radiomayonnaise at 11:59 AM on March 23, 2016

The story of West Virginia's birth is unique enough to deserve your attention.
posted by notned at 12:21 PM on March 23, 2016

Some residents of the Northeast section of Philadelphia talked about seceding from the City of Philadelphia and forming Liberty County.
posted by Rob Rockets at 12:49 PM on March 23, 2016

Staten Island voted in the 90s to secede from NYC, 65-35, but was stalled by the legislature.
posted by corb at 2:00 PM on March 23, 2016

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress features a group of people who want to secede, and the main character (a lawyer) at one point writes a document about how legally they can't secede from America.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:35 PM on March 23, 2016

Key West, Florida seceded, formed the "Conch Republic", surrendered, and applied for foreign aid as a publicity stunt in the 1980's.

The state legislature of Tennessee is trying right now to let various annexed parts of the city of Memphis secede from the city.

Texas renounced any right of secession in 1866. You could argue that the Compromise of 1850 semi-qualifies as breaking up into multiple states, at least in the long run.

Tennessee and Kentucky used to be part of North Carolina and Virginia. For that matter, Delaware used to be part of Pennsylvania.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:14 PM on March 23, 2016

The village of Winneconne, Wisconsin was omitted from the state map in the late 1960s, so the town began the process of secession and establishment as its own state. But it all eventually got worked out and they still have a party every summer in honor of it.
posted by macadamiaranch at 6:59 PM on March 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

I understand that West Virginia separated from Virginia as a result of the Civil War - a method of secession that I do not recommend.
posted by Billiken at 9:35 AM on March 24, 2016