Charlotte, NC — This past week, Texas was joined by 19 other states in filing a suit against four battleground states that it accused of altering election laws in order to sway the presidential election. The Supreme Court rejected the bid with only Justices Alito and Thomas dissenting. It did not take those in Texas long to respond.
Soon after, the Texas GOP, led by Allen West, suggested that perhaps it was time to start talking about secession. In an official statement, the Texas GOP leader said, “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”
It did not take long for the left to attack the suggestion. AOC referred to the suggestion of secession as resulting in a Confederacy of Dunces. Allen West quickly responded.
Better than being in a People’s Republic of Fools. YOU can live in the Socialist States of America, I prefer the #ConstitutionalStatesOfAmerica. https://t.co/lJbTYpYlpS
— Allen West (@AllenWest) December 12, 2020
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il.) also attacked the suggestion and said that the Texas GOP should retract the statement. He said that Abraham Lincoln and Union soldiers already told those who wished to secede no. Of course, Kinzinger has also been anti-Trump, and the post-election fight for fair elections as well.
While AOC and the left want to talk about how ridiculous the idea, is it one worth giving some thought? There have been suggestions that Texas holds the right to secede from the union if they wish. Except, that’s not entirely true.
In 2006, former Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the Civil War settled the case that a state cannot secede from the union. Another case that is frequently cited in the discussion about secession is from Texas vs White in 1869.
Chief Justice Salmon P Chase delivered the opinion of the court in that case where he declared that the admittance of Texas to the union, just as with any other state, was “indissoluble.” He continued by saying that the only way to change that was through revolution or through the consent of the states.
With that precedent in mind, the question becomes how many states would actually support secession if it was requested? We know that 18 states signed on to the suit with Texas to the Supreme Court. Would those same 18 states, or more, also agree to a potential secession?
Union states overwhelmingly opposed the secession of the south during the civil war. They not only opposed, but they significantly outnumbered states that seceded. Only 11 states seceded during the Civil War, while 20 remained committed to the union.
We have obviously added many states since that time, now numbering 50 total states, of which nearly 20 have an obvious problem with the 2020 election. Consider AOC’s comment as well, our country is as divided as it has ever been. Would the Democrats support and allow Texas and other states to secede?
Texas would be unable to secede alone, as described by the Supreme Court ruling above. So would these Democrats approve and how many states would go with Texas? It may be a question worth exploring.
Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Ohio and Arizona all signed on to the original suit. Of those that did not sign on, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are all under Republican control in their state legislature.
If all of these states agreed, that would be 30 states, four short of the amount needed for a constitutional amendment to pass. One would have to believe that New York, California, and other Democratic-led states would support the measure, seeing as how they simply want to eliminate conservatives from their lives.
In the Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers said this: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.” That is pretty strong language to state that there seems to be no way we can get along anymore.
Perhaps we find ourselves at a similar crossroads once again. The political bands which once connected us we find no longer connect us. On one side, there is a love of freedom and the Constitution. On the other, there is a desire to force everyone into socialism and destruction.
I know the discussion is purely hypothetical at this point, but what if Texas decides to move forward and starts recruiting partners? How many states would go along with them? It is an interesting thought to say the least.
JD Washington is the Editor-in-Chief at The Liberty Loft and host of The JD Washington Show. Be sure to subscribe to The Liberty Loft’s daily newsletter. If you enjoy our content, please consider donating to support The Liberty Loft so we can continue to deliver great content.
