Texas attempted to secede from the United States in 1869 but lost to the Supreme Court decision of Texas v. White. Now, 143 years later, Texas is attempting again with an online petition.
“There is a misnomer that the original treaty with the United States would allow Texas to secede, but this was repealed several years after joining the union,” Richard Hardcastle, Texas state representative district 68, said.
An online petition urging the Obama administration to allow Texas to secede from the union has gathered 117,934 signatures since it was created Nov. 9.
An unidentified person, “Micah H.,” from Arlington, Texas, formed the petition on the White House website pleading for the Obama administration to “peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.”
Petitions must receive 25,000 signatures before being formally recognized by the president. All 50 states have petitioned to secede from the union.
Zach Zoet, a senior in biology, said he believes the whole idea of separating ourselves from the union is not viable.
“There would be a vast expenditure of tax payer money to form a new government and they would have to set up international trade. It’s a lot of people rebelling with no conducive or articulated point,” Zoet said.
With the passing presidential election, Zoet said this is the aftermath of the election not resulting in the presidency of their preferred candidate. Like the Tea Party and other rebellious organizations, Zoet said he believes this is history repeating itself and the peoples’ way of revolting against the government.
“It’s flawed in numerous ways. Every verifiable metric shows we’re growing and improving,” Zoet said.
Chair of the Political Science department Steve Garrison said Texas could not leave the United States without a fight. Since Texas does not have its own form of military, the battle would be over quickly.
“It’s going to take a war for Texas to leave the United States. I don’t think Texas could defeat the United States in a war without a military or industrial capacity,” Garrison said.
Military bases placed in Texas would be removed seeing as they are federally funded. This would not only affect Texas as a whole but also Wichita Falls specifically. Sheppard Air Force Base employs 46 percent of the population in this area.
Garrison also explained interstates, port capacities, health care and education would be greatly affected without the federal money flow. Without federal loans, many college students would not have the money to obtain a higher education.
“I don’t know how Texas would be able to provide services as an independent country. Everybody thinks it’s this idea that Texas gets to walk away and keep all the federal property. The federal government isn’t going to do that,” Garrison said.
With all 50 states petitioning to secede, there has been skepticism over the turnout of the election. Garrison said he believes the petitions are a gimmick to draw attention to the states and the federal government is not concerned with the requests.
“There’s always people upset with whoever the president is or whatever the laws are. The bigger question is whether or not what they’re doing is considered sedition under federal laws. It may send a signal that the federal government may start prosecuting people before it turns into a situation where there is war,” Garrison said.
Texas State Representative for district 69 James Frank, said he does not support the efforts to secede from the union.
“While I appreciate the sentiment of those who think the federal government has overreached its powers, I in no way support any efforts to secede from the union. I am not sure speculating on the impact of secession is beneficial, as I don’t believe the effort has any merit,” Frank said.
Texas State Representative for district 68 Richard Hardcastle said he also opposes the petition to secede. Hardcastle said the plea to withdraw from the union is a “feel-good deal” for the people.
“It’s just a feel-good deal for the people circulating the petition in letting the federal government know how they feel about what is going on with our government,” Hardcastle said.
In regards to the economy in Texas if it actually seceded, Hardcastle said the state could not afford to lose federal funding. Without this assistance, state schools would lose all capital provided from the government.
“State school would lose all federal money which is only minimal at present. As of now, Texas itself is the 12th or 13th largest economy in the world, but financially we still could not afford to lose the federal assistance,” Hardcastle said.
Even with Texas having high ranking economy on a world-wide basis and being the second largest state in the country, Texas would not be able to become its own nation.
According to Hardcastle, the original treaty signed by the United States has been repealed stripping Texas of the right to secede from the union.