- Somaya Nasr
- BBC News Arabic
3 hours ago
In late June, the Texas Republican Party announced its policies for the next stage, some of which were controversial, such as declaring that President Joe Biden “was not legitimately elected”, and calling for a referendum on the secession of Texas from the United States.
This was not the first time that some had called for the secession of Texas, known as the “one-star state.” What is the historical background to these calls and how serious are they? Can a state actually leave the Federation of American States?
“Republic of Texas”
After the independence of Mexico from Spain in 1821, the fledgling republic sought to extend its control over the northern region, which was almost empty of population, and during the Spanish colonization it was performing the function of a fence that repels any attempts to incursion by the French and British empires.
This northern region became known as the State of Coahuila and Texas under the federation established by the Mexican Constitution of 1824. Most of the people inhabiting the state were Native Americans from the Apache and Comanche tribes.
Because many Mexicans refused to move to live in the state, the Mexican government was encouraging Americans and other foreigners to settle there, and decided to exempt them from some taxes for seven years.
But soon the Mexican government became concerned about the constant flow of Anglo-American immigrants, and in 1830 decided to ban further settlement in Coahuila and Texas and reintroduced suspended taxes, the state experienced much unrest and many disputes with the Mexican federal government.
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Texas Army officers inspecting soldiers prior to the state’s accession to the United States and the ensuing United States-Mexico War (1846-1848)
In 1836, the “Republic of Texas” declared its secession from Mexico. The independence of Texas lasted only nine years, as the republic suffered from deteriorating economic conditions during the rule of its second president, Mirabeau Lamar, and this may have been a major reason for its accession to the United States in 1845.
Between 1860 and 1861, Texas was among 11 US states to secede from the Union following the election of Abraham Lincoln as president and rising antislavery sentiment in the northern states, precipitating the American Civil War in April 1861.
After the war ended in 1865 and the loss of the Confederacy of southern states, including Texas, a process of reintegration began that lasted for more than a decade.
According to historians, this process was not easy for the Texans, who found themselves forced to abolish slavery and to recognize that secession from the Union was illegal. Nevertheless, the state was returned to the Union fold in 1870.
In general, explicit claims to states’ rights to secede ended in the South, but this did not mark the end of the Texan identity that the state’s people felt was different from the rest of the American states.
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A painting depicting General Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas, in 1837 as he entered the newly established city of Houston (the capital of Texas).
Many state people view the history of the “Republic of Texas” as a period of independence and self-realization, as opposed to what they see as the interventions of the federal government in Washington. In the 1990s, efforts emerged to promote the secession of Texas from the United States again. At that time, the “Republic of Texas Organization” was founded, which claimed that the United States had illegally annexed Texas. In 2005, the Texas Nationalist Movement was formed from a faction of the organization, but it distanced itself from the organization’s violent practices and favored political solutions.
The movement said its goal was to achieve full political, economic, and cultural independence for Texas.
Some believe that the voices calling for the secession of the state get louder every time a democratic president takes power in the country.
The Republican Party and calls for secession
In 2021, the idea of secession resurfaced, and even left the margins to enter the fabric of the political discourse of the Republican Party, one of the two major parties in the United States. A Republican Texas member of the House of Representatives introduced a bill for a non-binding referendum on secession, but it was not voted on or scheduled for a hearing by the House.
That same year, journalist and author Richard Kreitner, who specializes in the history of separatism in the United States, wrote that it was time to “take the talk of separatism seriously.”
In the wake of the failed rebellion attempt by former President Donald Trump’s supporters and their storming of Congress, the far-right militias, motivated by Trump’s unfounded claims that the elections were “stolen”, are increasingly demanding secession, not only in Texas , but in other states as well. A study conducted by a group of researchers from several American universities showed that the idea was supported by a third of Republicans in various American states, and more than half of the Republicans in the former Confederate states.
Kreitner believes that the Confederate flags raised by the capitol invaders were not a reference to the past, but to the future.
picture released, Getty Images
Some supporters of former President Trump carried Confederate flags during the storming of the Capitol in January 2021
For the first time, the Texas Republican Party officially supported the idea of secession officially last June, as it issued a report asking the Legislature to hold a referendum in 2023 on secession from the United States, and to pass a law confirming the state’s right to secede. This sparked a great debate within the United States. Some commented – jokingly – that they hoped this would happen in order to get rid of the Republicans and those with extremist right-wing tendencies – and with them the state of Texas, and others indicated that the secession of Texas is not legally possible, while others began to warn of the consequences of this for the entire country, nor Especially if other states follow the example of the one-star state.
intensification of polarization
The idea of secession is not limited to Republicans only. A poll conducted last year showed that the percentage of Democrats wanting to secession amounted to more than 40 percent in some states. In the wake of former President Trump’s election victory, there were votes in California, for example, calling for its separation from the Union.
Many analysts attribute the reasons for these calls to what they see as an unprecedented state of polarization and deepening political divisions in the United States. Numerous studies point to growing differences between Democrats and Republicans on many issues, including climate change, law enforcement and the application of the death penalty, the right to bear arms, immigration policies, economic policies, and the country’s foreign policy.
A month before the last presidential election in November 2020, a poll showed that nearly eight in 10 registered voters from each party view disagreements with the other side as disagreements about core American values, not just about politics. Oftentimes, ethnic affiliations and religious beliefs intersect with party identity.
But the United States is not the only country that has recently suffered from deepening political divisions. It was one of many countries that have experienced dramatic changes in the political and partisan arena.
The United Kingdom, for example, has experienced intense political polarization over the issue of Brexit, the rise of populist parties in other European countries has disrupted existing party systems, and cultural conflicts, fears of growing multi-ethnicity and economic fears have all deepened old fissures. Ideas that were considered extremist easily find their way into the political discourse of the big parties.
Dr Donna Jackson, a senior lecturer in modern history at the University of Chester and specializing in American constitutional history, argues that “Texas who demand secession claim that they were disenfranchised in 2020 and therefore do not receive the full privileges of American citizenship, and so they want “This claim has been repeatedly proven false, yet these lies continue to be propagated. The goal is to maintain the political momentum of the far-right wing within the Conservative Party, and to make gains during the 2022 midterm elections.”
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The late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was of the opinion that the Civil War confirmed the illegality of the secession of the states
What does the constitution say about secession?
Nothing in the US Constitution prevents Texas or any other US state from leaving the Union.
But many historians believe that when the Confederate Army surrendered at the end of the Civil War in 1865, the idea of secession was forever defeated, and that the Union victory set a precedent for states to legally secession.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, in Texas v. White, the US Supreme Court removed any ambiguity in the matter when it ruled that “the union between Texas and the other states is perfect, permanent, and indissoluble, as is the union between the native states.” from which the United States of America was formed. But if Texas decides to secede, it will be up to the US government whether it wants to get involved or not.
When the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was asked in 2006 if there was any legal basis for secession, he wrote, “The answer is clear. If there is one constitutional issue that has been settled by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to [للولايات] separation.”
“Technically, if any of the states secede, they would no longer be bound by the Constitution, and the Supreme Court would no longer have jurisdiction there, so Texas could secede,” says Dr. Jackson. Creating financial, economic and defense systems, signing their own trade agreements, etc. The matter is much more complicated than just getting out of the United States, but also includes defining mechanisms for the future.
What are the chances of a separation?
Perhaps most implausible is the importance of Texas to Republicans at the national level, particularly during the presidential election. The state is a stronghold of the party, and without the votes of its members in the Electoral College, neither Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump would have won the office. It is therefore highly unlikely that Republican leaders will support the secession of Texas, especially Trump, whose attempts to regain the presidency in the 2024 election will be almost doomed to failure without state support.
Many believe that the chances of secession are very small, including Dr. Jackson, who does not believe that there is a serious desire in any of the American states for secession.
“While the size and economies of some states may make it possible, the details of establishing independent states mean that it is practically unrealistic. Moreover, the federal system gives states autonomy in many ways, and then secession will bring them little benefit.” .
On the issue of Texan identity, Jackson says she does not believe that residents of the state consider themselves “only Texans, not Americans.” While she agrees that extremist ideas appear to be on the rise, she sees the limits to what they can achieve.
“Extremists rarely form a majority, and although their voices may be loud, and although they may achieve ‘victories’ in the short term, more moderate voices always have the greatest impact in the long run.”
However, Richard Kreitner says in his book Break It Up: Secession, Division and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union
(Dissociation: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of the Incomplete American Federation) Although the idea of secession seems a remote possibility at the present time, that does not mean that it will never happen. The writer believes that the frequent repetition of calls for secession by both Republicans and Democrats alike, should prompt Americans to stop and think about the reasons that lead to those calls, and to reflect on the flaws of the federal system, which leads to some restlessness and the belief that they might be better off if they separated. of the union of the states of America and they were independent states.