Secession again? You can’t be serious

A new and rather shocking string of petitions to secede from the United States may temporarily distract officials from handling  economic concerns. 

In 1861, the Confederate States of America, a conglomeration of southern slave states, declared their independence from the United States of America. Eleven of those states formally seceded while two others and one territory did not declare a formal secession. The life span of the Confederacy was unexpectedly short, ending in 1865 after secession was deemed illegal and after being defeated by the Union in the Civil War. Since the conclusion of the war the concept of secession has been earnestly mocked. Throughout K-12 schools, students are taught that the Civil War is a massive source of embarrassment for the country and that secessionists of that time period were wrong and rightfully defeated. 

Today in 2012, however, the same concept of secession is being championed in various states. The reasons for such a drastic petition are not concerned with issues as heavy as slavery, but are instead related to the election of a president, among other issues. Over thirty states have submitted petitions to secede from the United States, a few with a shocking amount of signatures. The secession petition from Texas boasts over seventy thousand signatures, proclaiming that “blatant abuses of their rights,” such as airport TSA inspections, as one of a few reasons to secede. Residents of other states are petitioning to secede due to the re-election of President Barack Obama and are demanding a nationwide recount of the votes. 

This attempt to secede from the United States is blatantly foolish. During the Civil War, the secession of the Confederacy was an act of anti–American sentiment. They were so unwilling to cooperate that they attempted to dissolve and divide the country. They did not want to play by the rules so they tried to quit the game altogether. Although the secession petitions today do not carry the same weight of earnestness I still view them in the same light. Those who are signing these petitions are angry that Mitt Romney is not the elected president so they want to quit. The economy isn’t where they would like for it to be, so they’re done. 

Rather than cooperate and work through various issues together as a nation, these petition signers are throwing tantrums common to toddlers. They would rather destroy a nation that has existed for 236 years over engaging in the democratic process put in place by our founding fathers. 

Besides, seceding from the nation would not be a wise decision for any state. In an 1860 Washington correspondence letter it was written that secession comes with consequences that many are not aware of, stating, “We have seen, too, that the masses of the southern people who favor secession do so because they are equally uninformed in relation to its certain results—and that they are proceeding under the influence of reckless passion.” The Americans who signed a petition of secession should be embarrassed and ultimately ashamed to have signed a document that represents such a vivid disrespect for this country’s history and its governmental processes.