For Your Consideration: Secession?
It's Civil War, Take 2: Is It Time for the Union to Go It's Own Way?
In 1775, the People of Massachusetts declared themselves a government unto themselves, kicking off events that led to formation of the United States, a Novo Ordo Seclorum (a new order of the ages), with a Great Seal Proclaiming E Pluribus Unum, (out of many, one). From 1861 to 1865, we fought a Civil War to preserve our Union. From 1914-1918, we went to Europe to fight a War to End All Wars. And now, we find ourselves again in the midst of Civil War. Maybe it’s time for the Old Union to part company with the Confederate States.
On May 20, 1774, the British passed the Massachusetts Government Act, annulling the provincial charter, and the King’s Governor dissolved the provincial assembly. The assembly met anyway, declared themselves the government of Massachusetts, and began preparing to defend themselves. Communities organized Committees of Correspondence, Safety, and Supply and formed Minuteman companies. In April 1775, Redcoats marched on Concord, someone fired The Shot Heard Round the World, and the Revolution was on. In 1787, the Constitution was signed and Ben Franklin declared we had A republic, if you can keep it, and Thomas Jefferson predicted, The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
In 1860, the American People elected Abraham Lincoln President, and Southern States began seceding from the Union. In 1861, Lincoln was inaugurated, and delegates in Montgomery approved the Constitution of the Confederate States of America. And the Civil War was on. In 1865, the Confederacy surrendered, the war was over, 620,000 people (2% of the population) died to preserve the Union… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, .. not perish from the earth. Lincoln was killed for his trouble.
In 1961, John Kennedy proclaimed Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge--and more. He went on to declare, And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Kennedy was killed for his troubles, as were his Brother, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. Nixon went on to complete much of what Kennedy started - taking us to the Moon, and containing both Soviet & Chinese expansionism.
In 1977, Jimmy Carter addressed the Nation, declaring the Energy Crisis to be The Moral Equivalent of War, continuing, If we fail to act soon, we will face an economic, social and political crisis that will threaten our free institutions. But he failed to mobilize us, and what a fine mess we now fine ourselves in. (The road not taken: Jerry Brown and Protect the Earth, Serve the People, and Explore the Universe.)
In 2024, Our Fellow Americans elected Donald Trump to a second term as President. In January 2025, on MLK Day, we handed him the keys to the kingdom & the nuclear codes. A Manchurian Candidate, a Trojan Horse carrying unregenerate Confederates, and more than a few Nazis, into power. And now his minions are busily dismantling our Union from the inside out - an autoimmune disease decimating our civil body politic, economic & environmental collapse, and everything we’ve built since the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Kennedy/Nixon years.
It’s 1775, 1861, and 1920 all over again - with a touch of Germany 1933 thrown in. We are recovering from plague, we face environmental disaster, an economic bubble is about to burst, we face war both civil and worldwide, and our infrastructure is crumbling around us.
In 1775, we began a revolution. In 1861, we began a civil war. In 1920 we were cleaning up after World War 1, the Great Depression, New Deal, and WWII were dead ahead.
In 1776, the Founding Fathers proclaimed We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, declared That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, and mutually pledge(d) to each other (their) Lives, (their) Fortunes and (their) sacred Honor.
Is it now time for the Old Union - California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin - to let the Confederacy go its own way, and move on?