List of U.S. state partition proposals

1855 J.H. Colton Company map of Virginia. Predates the West Virginia partition by seven years.

Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, numerous state partition proposals have been put forward that would either set-off a portion of an existing state (or states) in order that this region might either join another state or create a new state. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, oftentimes called the New States Clause, grants to the United States Congress the authority to admit new states into the United States beyond the thirteen already in existence at the time the Constitution went into effect (June 21, 1788, after ratification by nine of the thirteen states^[1]):

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.^[2]

Four Eastern states had Western land claims when the Constitution was written. The New States Clause was designed to give them a veto over whether their western counties could become states.^[3] The clause has served this same function since then whenever a proposal to partition an existing state or states has come before Congress. New breakaway states are permitted to join the Union, but only with the proper consents.^[4] Of the 37 states admitted to the Union by Congress, Kentucky, Maine, and West Virginia were each set off from an already existing state:

• Kentucky, admitted to the Union in 1792, was a part of Virginia;
• West Virginia, admitted in 1863, was a part of Virginia^[5]
• Maine, admitted to the Union in 1820, was a part of Massachusetts.
• Vermont, which entered the Union after existing for several years as a de facto sovereign state, was established upon land to which the state of New York asserted a disputed claim.

The following is a list of substantive proposals (both successful and unsuccessful) put forward since the nation's founding to partition or set-off a portion of an existing U.S. state (or states) in order that the region might either join another state or create a new state. Proposals to secede from the Union are not included, nor are proposals to create states from either organized incorporated or unorganized U.S. territories. Land cessions made by several individual states to the Federal government during the 18th and 19th centuries are not listed either.

Arizona

• In February 2011, Tucson politicians and activists formed the group "Start our State," to advocate secession for Pima County and other southern counties to create a state called "Baja Arizona". The group wanted the Pima County Board of Supervisors to put the issue on the 2012 ballot, but it was rejected by the Board due to lack of authority, so the group circulated petitions.^[6] Interest in secession grew when Republican Governor Jan Brewer and her allies enacted Arizona SB 1070, regarding illegal immigration.^[7] Furthermore, the state had passed laws affecting Tucson elections and how the city bids for public works projects.^[8]

California

Colorado

2013 election results: counties in orange voted to separate from Colorado, while counties in blue rejected the idea.

• In the mid-1930s, the Walsenburg World-Independent proposed that Huerfano County secede from the state.^[9] This was a pet project of Sam T. Taylor, a sports editor, who went on to become a long-serving state senator,^[10] continuing to pursue the idea unsuccessfully.^[11]
• In 1973, nearby Costilla County had expressed interest in seceding from Colorado and joining New Mexico.^[12]
• On June 6, 2013, commissioners in Weld County announced a proposal to secede with seven other counties to form the state of North Colorado, citing concerns with state policy and recently enacted legislation relating to the region’s main economic drivers, including agriculture and energy. The bid was motivated by a belief that the urban population centers of the State weren't concerned with the economic interests of more rural areas.^[13][14][15] The commissioners stated that they would hold public meetings to gather input before crafting a ballot initiative by August 1, and that the proposal had aroused preliminary interest from fellow commissioners in Morgan, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Washington, Yuma and Kit Carson counties.^[16] Eleven counties were involved in the partition movement by election day, though Moffat County was looking into joining Wyoming rather than North Colorado.^[17] Voters rejected partition in six of the eleven counties, including Weld and Moffat, and supported it (without binding authority) in five.^[18]

Florida

• Politicians in the South Florida metropolitan area have made proposals to split Florida into two states - North Florida and South Florida. One such proposal was made in 2008 by the North Lauderdale commissioners.^[19]

Idaho

• An early twentieth century proposal cited a desire for portions of northern Idaho and eastern Washington to form a state named Lincoln.^[20]

Illinois

• Between 1840 and 1842, several northern counties in Illinois, including Jo Daviess County, Stephenson County, Winnebago County and Boone County, voted to reattach to Wisconsin, from which the counties were ceded to Illinois by Congress in 1818. The split was precipitated by the mutual antagonism between northerners and southerners due to social and political differences. The split was never realized due to lack of support from Chicago and Cook County, as the benefits of the Illinois and Michigan Canal linking northern to central and southern Illinois outweighed secession.^[21]
• In 1861, the southern region of Illinois, known as Little Egypt, proposed secession due to cultural and political differences from Chicago and much of Central and Northern Illinois.^[22][23]
• In 1925, Cook County considered secession to create the state of Chicago.^[24]
• In the early 1970s, residents in western Illinois were upset over the allocation of state funds for transportation, prompting a student at Western Illinois University to declare 16 counties the Republic of Forgottonia. Although the declaration was meant to be a joke, the secession idea was picked up by the Western Illinois Regional Council, until State Representative Doug Kane showed that the counties had received funding that was more than what they paid in state taxes.^[25]
• In November 2011, State Representatives Bill Mitchell and Adam Brown introduced a proposal to make Cook County a state of its own. They felt that all of Illinois outside of Cook County should become a separate state, due to Chicago's "dictating its views" to the rest of the state.^[26]

Kansas

• In 1992, a group in southwestern Kansas advocated the secession of a number of counties in that region from the state. Nominally headed by Don O. Concannon, a lawyer and former gubernatorial candidate from Hugoton, the group called the new state name "West Kansas", a state bird (pheasant), and a state flower (yucca). The proposal was in reaction to laws raising real estate taxes, and shifting state education funding away from rural school districts and into more urban areas. Though organizers arranged for a series of straw polls that demonstrated widespread support for secession in nine counties,^[27] the movement died out by the mid-1990s.^[28]

Maine

• Maine was initially part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before being admitted to the Union as a state in 1820. However, its boundary with British North America (now Canada) had been in dispute for several decades. In 1827, John Baker unilaterally declared the disputed territory (now part of Aroostook County) to be the "Republic of Madawaska". The declaration was rejected by Maine in 1831. Following the undeclared Aroostook War in 1838–1839, the United States and United Kingdom signed the Webster–Ashburton Treaty on August 9, 1842 to settle the border issue.
• In 1998 and again in 2005, state representative Henry Joy proposed legislation to partition Maine into northern and southern states. He cited concern for the rural northern part, encompassing Maine's 2nd congressional district, being affected by "anti-business policies" and "overzealous environmental safeguards".^[29] Reflecting his political opinion of the trends there, Joy suggested the southern half be named "Northern Massachusetts" and the northern half remain "Maine", though others have suggested "Acadia" for the northern half.^[30]

Maryland

• Westsylvania, proposed during the American Revolution, would have been created from parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia and a small part of Maryland.
• In 1998, state legislator Richard F. Colburn proposed to the Maryland General Assembly that a referendum be held to allow nine counties representing the Eastern Shore to secede from the state. They would invite counties from Delaware and Virginia to form the state of Delmarva.^[31][32][33]
• In September 2009, Frederick County Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. proposed that the county secede from Maryland because the county pays more to state government in taxes than it receives in services and benefits. The proposal was rejected by the other commissioners in the county.^[34]
• In February 2014, it was reported that residents from Western Maryland started petitions to form a new state, citing taxes and gun control as issues. Possible names for such a proposed state included Liberty, Antietam, and Augusta.^[35]

Massachusetts

• The state's exclave District of Maine had proposed secession multiple times in the early 19th century. Long-standing disagreements over land speculation and settlements led Maine residents and their allies in Massachusetts proper to force an 1807 vote in the Massachusetts General Court on permitting Maine to separate; the vote failed. Separatist sentiment in Maine was stoked during the War of 1812 when pro-British Massachusetts merchants opposed the war, and refused to defend Maine from British invaders. Finally, on June 19, 1819, the Massachusetts General Court passed enabling legislation separating the "District of Maine" from the rest of the state (an action approved by the voters in Maine on July 19, 1819 by 17,001 to 7,132). Then, on February 25, 1820, the court passed a follow-up measure officially accepting the fact of Maine's imminent statehood.^[36] Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise, which also geographically limited the spread of slavery and enabled the admission to statehood of Missouri the following year.^[37][38][39]
• During the abolitionist era some supporters of William Lloyd Garrison sought the secession of Essex County from the state.^[40]
• Boston Corner, in the southwestern corner of the state, was ceded to the state of New York in 1857, due to Massachusetts being unable to administer the hamlet.
• A 1919 tax-protest proposal filed in the state legislature would have created an independent State of Boston.^[30]
• In 1977, the islands of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands proposed to separate from Massachusetts because of a redistricting bill that would have deprived Dukes County, consisting of Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands, and Nantucket County of separate representation in the General Court. At local town meetings, culminating in the All-Island Selectmen’s Association Conference, residents and community leaders voted in favor of secession with an "overwhelming majority". When the Nantucket state representative filed a bill with the Massachusetts Legislature, Grasso the Governor of Connecticut suggested that the islands join her state, the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the Rhode Island Senate each passed resolutions inviting the islands to join their states, and the Governor of Vermont and the Vermont General Assembly both supported annexation to their state. Although the redistricting bill passed, the state representatives pledged to assign aides for the two counties that would report to their state representative, and the area received much positive publicity.^[41][42]

Michigan

• Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been the subject of proposals to create a separate state, "Superior", which would include some counties of Wisconsin, and in some proposals, parts of the Northern Michigan part of the Lower Peninsula.^[43]

Minnesota

• There has been intermittent advocacy for the Arrowhead of Minnesota, the three northeast counties of the state adjacent to Lake Superior, to join with northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a new state to be named "North Country" or Superior, with Duluth as its capital.^[44][45]

Missouri

• McDonald County declared itself the McDonald Territory for a brief period of time in July 1961.^[46][47]

Montana

• In 1939, a secessionist movement proposed the State of Absaroka, to be formed from portions of Montana, adjacent areas of Wyoming, Nebraska and parts of North and South Dakota. The craze was reflected in state automobile license plates bearing the name; a "Miss Absaroka" contest held in that year; and a minor league baseball team called the Absaroka Eagles.^[48][49][50]

Nebraska

• In the 1890s, residents of the Nebraska Panhandle threatened secession when the state refused to enact water laws that would encourage irrigation.^[51]

New Hampshire

• In 2001, the communities of Newington and Rye considered secession in response to the enactment of a uniform statewide property tax.^[52][53][54]

New Jersey

• In 1980, a non-binding referendum to partition the state was passed by several counties in southern New Jersey.

New York

Proposed map of an independent Long Island and New York City

• In the New York City mayoral election of 1969, writer Norman Mailer ran in the Democratic Party primary on a ticket with columnist Jimmy Breslin, who ran for City Council President. Part of their joint platform was a proposal that New York City should secede from New York State and become the 51st state.^[55][56] At around the same time, a public-affairs series on the local educational TV station, WNET-TV, channel 13, was called The Fifty-First State.^[57]
• In the 1990s, Randy Kuhl, from rural upstate Hammondsport, had advocated secession by regularly proposing bills to that effect while he was a state senator. His 1999 bill would have New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Rockland Counties become a separate state of New York, while the rest of the counties would be grouped as West New York.^[58]
• From 2007 to 2009, Long Island residents discussed secession on the grounds that their tax money is not used to fund programs in their counties.^[59] Proposals were made for the entire island (Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties) and for just the two suburban counties (Nassau and Suffolk).^{[60][61][62][63][64]}
• State senators Joseph Robach, Dale Volker, and Michael Ranzenhofer, all Republicans from western New York, proposed a nonbinding referendum to gauge support for dividing the state in November 2009.^[65] The referendum was again proposed by Stephen Hawley in 2013 and 2015, with members of the Long Island delegation to the state legislature also backing the 2015 bill.^[66]
• 2010 gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's supporters, Rus Thompson and James Ostrowski in the Buffalo region, have supported secession of western New York from New York City and its nearby counties.^[67] Fred Smerlas, in discussing a potential platform for a 2010 Congressional run from western New York, stated that he would make the separation of New York City and upstate a top priority: "My first act if I ever got elected would be to take a big saw and cut New York City off."^[68]
• Fifteen towns in the Southern Tier of New York proposed potential secession in 2015.^[69]

North Carolina

• In 1784, the western counties of Greene, Washington, Sullivan, and parts of Hawkins County, formed the provisional State of Franklin, with Revolutionary War hero John Sevier as governor. However, since the state was not recognized by the Congress of the Confederation, it disbanded and joined North Carolina, which became a state in 1789. In 1790, North Carolina relinquished the region to the federal government, creating the Southwest Territory. In 1796, the territory would be admitted to the Union as the State of Tennessee, with Sevier as its first governor.

Oregon

• In 1941, counties in southwestern Oregon joined counties of Northern California to secede as the State of Jefferson.

Pennsylvania

• Westsylvania was proposed as the 14th state during the American Revolutionary War. It would have been located primarily in what is now West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and small parts of Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia.
• More recent commentators have occasionally proposed separating the Philadelphia region from the rest of Pennsylvania, either as an independent state^[70] or as part of New Jersey.^[71]

Rhode Island

• In 1984, the township of New Shoreham, located on Block Island, threatened to secede because the state had denied them the ability to ban or to control the use of mopeds on the island. Both Massachusetts and Connecticut were reported as having interest in annexing the island. After the town voted to put the issue on the state ballot for June, the Rhode Island government eventually compromised by allowing the island to control the number of mopeds on the island.^[72][73]

South Dakota

• Parts of South Dakota were proposed as part of Absaroka.

Tennessee

• In 1861, after Tennessee joined the Confederacy, Scott County passed a proclamation to secede from Tennessee and form the "Free and Independent State of Scott" in order to support the Union. When it was discovered in 1986 that this county law was still on the books, the proclamation was finally repealed. The county then petitioned the state of Tennessee for readmission, even though the original secession had not been recognized by the either the state or federal government.^[74]

Texas

• Under the joint resolution of Congress, the Republic of Texas joined the Union with the right to partition itself into as many as five states. As a result, Texas "divisionists" would occasionally propose partitioning in its early decades.^[75][76]

Utah

• State of Deseret, partly settled by Mormons before it was purchased from Mexico by the United States, had proposed boundaries far larger than the eventual Utah Territory.
• In 2002, the United States House of Representatives voted to allow Wendover to leave the state and join Nevada, merging with the city of West Wendover.^[77][78] However, Nevada Senator Harry Reid blocked the bill's consideration in the Senate, citing that it would affect the investments of the casinos in the border town.^[79]
• In 2008, state representative Neal Hendrickson proposed Joint Resolution 6 (HJR006): "the creation of a separate state, consisting of the southern portion of the present state of Utah with a northern boundary stretching east and west across the present state of Utah at the southern border of Utah County".^[80] The bill did not pass.^[81]

Virginia

• Westsylvania, proposed as the 14th state during the American Revolutionary War, included areas that were then part of Virginia but mostly later became West Virginia and Kentucky. It would have been located primarily in what is now West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and small parts of Kentucky, Maryland, and Virginia.
• The District of Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln (all formerly part of Kentucky County) sought on numerous occasions to split from Virginia, beginning in the 1780s. Ten constitutional conventions were held in the Constitution Square Courthouse in Danville between 1784 and 1792. In 1790, Kentucky's delegates accepted Virginia's terms of separation, and a state constitution was drafted at the final convention in April 1792. The Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation on December 18, 1789 separating its "District of Kentucky" from the rest of the State and approving its statehood.^[36] Kentucky became the 15th state in the Union on June 1, 1792.^[82]
• West Virginia: Several Trans–Allegheny region counties voted to secede from the state after Virginia joined the Confederate States of America at the beginning of the Civil War on April 17, 1861. Unionist leaders in Wheeling set up a new State government for Virginia under the Wheeling Convention that was recognized by Washington. On May 13, 1862, the General Assembly of the Restored Government of Virginia passed an act granting permission for creation of West Virginia,^[83] and the secessionist area wrote a constitution. It was admitted to the Union as West Virginia^[84] on June 20, 1863, the 35th state.^[85] Support for the Confederacy and the Union was about evenly divided in the new State and a guerrilla war lasted until 1865.^[86] Later, by its ruling in Virginia v. West Virginia (1871), the Supreme Court implicitly affirmed that the breakaway Virginia counties did have the proper consents necessary to become a separate state.^[87]

Vermont

• In 2004 and 2005, the town of Killington voted to secede from Vermont to join New Hampshire, despite being situated in the center of the state.^[88] A similar motion was attempted in Winhall, but was voted down.^[89]

Washington

• Present-day Washington is geographically divided into Eastern and Western regions by the Cascade Mountains. In the original proposal to establish Washington Territory, it was bounded on the east by the Columbia River.^[90] Since 1861, some eastern residents have proposed forming a new state, sometimes in combination with the Idaho Panhandle or other nearby states. Names proposed include East Washington, Lincoln, and Cascadia. Reasons given are the distinct needs of urban and rural populations and political differences over water rights, labor law, and taxation.^[91][92]

Wisconsin

• On July 21, 1967, the Village of Winneconne seceded to become the Sovereign State of Winneconne in order to protest its omission from the state's highway map. After negotiations restored the village's location, Winneconne rejoined the state.^[93] The village has since celebrated the secession with an annual Sovereign State Days event.^[94]
• Portions of the northern counties were included in proposals for the State of Superior.

Wyoming

• Parts of northern Wyoming were considered in a proposal for the State of Absaroka.

See also

• 51st state
• List of active separatist movements in North America
• List of U.S. county secession proposals
• Territorial evolution of the United States, noting all state boundary changes

References

1. Maier, Pauline (2010). Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 361.
2. "The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, Centennial Edition, Interim Edition: Analysis of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 26, 2013" (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2013. pp. 16–17. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
3. Forte, David F. "Essays on Article IV: New States Clause". The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation.
4. Kesavan, Vasan; Paulsen, Michael Stokes (2002). "Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?". California Law Review. 90 (2): 395.
5. Michael P. Riccards, "Lincoln and the Political Question: The Creation of the State of West Virginia" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997 online edition
6. Bodfield, Rhonda; Kelly, Andrea (February 5, 2011). "Could Baja Arizona be 51st state in US?". Arizona Daily Star.
7. Poole, Brad (May 10, 2011). "Liberals in southern Arizona seek to form new state". Reuters.
8. Robbins, Ted (May 9, 2011). "A 51st State? Some In Arizona Want A Split". National Public Radio. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
9. Huerfano County: Land of Legend & J. F. Coss at the Wayback Machine (archived May 29, 2005)
10. Colorado Joint Legislative Library. "Legislator Record for Taylor, Samuel Tesitore". Retrieved July 11, 2008.
11. Rabson, Diane. "NCAR and UCAR: History in short, Part II". NCAR/UCAR - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
12. Quillen, Ed (September 1999). "San Luis Valley, 2nd edition, by Virginia McConnell Simmons - Review". Colorado Central Magazine (67): 37. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
13. Monte Whaley (June 9, 2013). "Weld County Floats Secession". The Denver Post.
14. Dylan Stableford (July 11, 2013). "Northern Colorado wants to secede from Colorado". Yahoo News. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
15. "Effort To Create New State Called 'North Colorado' Grows". CBS Denver. July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
16. Romano, Analisa (June 6, 2013). "Weld County commissioners propose formation of new state, North Colorado". The Greeley Tribune. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
17. Alan Silverleib and Ashley Killough (November 6, 2013). "Election Results 2013: Gov. Christie And More". CNN. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
18. Victoria A.F. Camron and Monte Whaley (November 5, 2013). "Weld County voters like Colorado, reject secessionist proposal". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
19. Huriash, Lisa J. (May 6, 2008). "North Lauderdale wants to split Florida into two states". Sun-Sentinel.
20. "North Idaho People Want a New State Called Lincoln". Spokesman Review. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
21. Wyman, Mark (December 24, 2011). "Moving the borders: Goodbye Chicago | The Illinois North-South split". The Chicago Tribune.
22. Lowry, Thomas Power (1997). "General Logan Can Kiss My Ass - Colonel Frank L. Rhodes". Tarnished eagles: The Court-Martial of Fifty Union Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels. Stackpole Books. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8117-1597-3.
23. "The History of Southern Illinois - The Civil War and Late 19th Century". Egyptian Area Agency on Aging. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012.
24. Lupton, John. "June 23–29, 2003". Illinois Political Journal.
25. Erwin 2007, p. 51
26. "2 GOP legislators propose separating Cook County from Illinois". The State Journal-Register. November 22, 2011.
27. Overby, Peter (December 1992). "We're outta here!". Common Cause Magazine. 18 (4): 23.
28. Kauffman, Bill (March 1995). "Smaller Is Beautifuller". The American Enterprise. p. 37. Archived from the original on February 14, 2007.
29. Carrier, Paul (March 2, 2005). "Bill calls for close look at secession". Maine Today. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007.
30. Michael J. Trinklein (2 May 2010). "Altered states: The strange history of efforts to redraw the New England map". Boston Globe.
31. Partlow, Joshua (April 18, 2005). "Academic Quest Puts Credibility on Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
32. Gosier, Chris (February 20, 1998). "Would-be Secessionists Dream Up the State of Delmarva". Capital News Service.
33. Lincoln, Taylor (March 5, 1998). "Officials On Both Side Of D.C. Border Shun Retrocession". Capital News Service.
34. Stern, Nicholas C. (March 17, 2010). "Commissioners reject proposal to secede from state". The Frederick News-Post. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
35. Bubala, Mary. "Some Western Maryland Residents Want To Form Their Own State". CBS Local. Baltimore: CBS Radio. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
36. "History of Several States and U.S. Territories". TheGreenPapers.com.
37. Woodard, Colin (August 31, 2010). "Parallel 44: Origins of the Mass Effect". The Working Waterfront.
38. Woodard, Colin (2004). The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators and the Forgotten Frontier. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-03324-3.
39. "Maine History (Statehood)". www.maine.gov. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
40. Tuttleton, James W. (February 1994). "The many lives of Frederick Douglass". The New Criterion. 12 (6). Archived from the original on December 17, 2005.
41. Seccombe, Mike (September–October 2007). "Talkin' About a Revolution". Martha's Vineyard Magazine.
42. Regan, Eulalie (ed.). "Statehood". Vineyard Gazette Online. Archived from the original on March 28, 2006.
43. "51st State". NBC Evening News. August 8, 1975. NBC – via Vanderbilt Television News Archive.
44. "New state convention". Superior Chronicle. August 3, 1858. p. 3.
45. "A new state: Ontonagon". The New York Times. April 6, 1858. p. 4.
46. Forster, Louis. "MacDonald Territory". Retrieved September 8, 2007.
47. "Missouri County in "Secession" Move". Oshkosh Daily Northwestern. April 11, 1961.
48. Johnson, Kirk (July 24, 2008). "A State That Never Was in Wyoming". The New York Times.
49. Florence, Mason; Gierlich, Marisa; Nystrom, Andrew Dean, eds. (2001). Lonely Planet Rocky Mountains: Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. p. 413.
50. "Series III, Box 4: Artifacts, circa 1917-circa 1939.". Inventory of the H.H. Horton papers, 1897-1960. University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
51. Manley, Robert, ed. (May 1999). "A Divided Nebraska - from Thinking About The Future". Buffalo Commons Storytelling. Archived from the original on July 20, 2006.
52. Daniell, Jere (1976). "The American Republic: 1760-1870 - The Western Rebellion". New Hampshire Profile. The Flow of History.
53. "Troublesome Grants" (PDF). New Hampshire Minute Man. Derry, New Hampshire. March 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2007.
54. "Newington Archives - News 2001 - Courts Divided on Shaheen Statewide Property Tax". Newington official website. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
55. Roberts, Sam (November 14, 2007). "Podcast: Remembering Mailer for Mayor". City Room weblog. New York Times.
56. Breslin, Jimmy (May 5, 1969). "I Run to Win" (PDF). New York.
57. "James Day, 89". Current. May 12, 2008.
58. Tierney, John (May 24, 1999). "The Big City; The Moochers From Upstate? Cut 'Em Loose". The New York Times.
59. Brand, Rick (March 27, 2007). "Long Island: The 51st state?". Newsday. Archived from the original on March 31, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
60. Kilgannon, Corey (September 22, 2007). "What Has the Hamptons, 4 Airports and a Hankering for Independence?". New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
61. Goldstein, David (September 22, 2007). "Staking a claim for the .ILI TLD". DomainPulse.com. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
62. Haberman, Clyde (April 30, 2009). "Trying Again and Again to Secede". New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
63. Tagliaferro, Linda (May 6, 2009). "Should Long Island Become A State?". About.com. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
64. Yashlavsky, Andrey (May 6, 2009). "Разъединенные Штаты Америки" [The Disunited States of America]. Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). Retrieved August 10, 2009.
65. Terreri, Jill (November 28, 2009). "Split New York state? Robach wants to know what counties think". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
66. McCarthy, Jimmy (February 20, 2015). Another bill aims to divide state. The Post-Journal (online version paywalled), page A-1. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
67. Barrett, Wayne (October 14, 2010). "How Does Carl Paladino Get the 'Tea Party' Tag After Teabagging the Tea Partiers?". Village Voice. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
68. George, Eli (March 30, 2010). "Will former Bill make a run for office?". WIVB-TV. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
69. Goggin, Caroline (18 February 2015). "Southern Tier towns looking to cut NY ties". WBNG. Binghamton, New York. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
70. Matthis, Joel (7/1/2013). "Philadelphia, Let's Secede from Pennsylvania". Philadelphia Magazine. Check date values in: |date= (help)
71. Sonnenfeld, Marc J. (1989-12-27). "Philadelphia Should Secede from Pennsylvania and Join New Jersey". Philadelphia Inquirer.
72. "Block Islanders ride Great Moped Battle to brink of secession". Providence Journal. October 31, 1999. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011.
73. Erwin 2007, pp. 16–17
74. "Scott County, TN - History - Historical Landmarks: Scott County Veterans Memorial". Scott County, TN. Southern Appalachian Economic Development Partnership. Archived from the original on February 5, 2005.
75. Erwin, James L. "Footnotes to History - U to Z - Van Zandt, Free State Of". Footnotes to History. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012.
76. "Home - History - American - The Great Divide". Snopes.com. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
77. Eddington, Mark (November 23, 2002), "Wendovers' Leaders Will Consider Next Move", Salt Lake Tribune
78. Eddington, Mark (November 27, 2002), "Wendovers Press Ahead on Annexation", Salt Lake Tribune
79. Burr, Thomas (April 2, 2005), "Reid: Yucca should be junked", Salt Lake Tribune
80. "Utah Legislature HJR006". Retrieved September 12, 2014.
81. "Residents In More Than 30 States File Secession Petitions". The Huffington Post. November 13, 2012.
82. "Constitution Square Historic Site". Danville/Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
83. "A State of Convenience: The Creation of West Virginia, Chapter Twelve, Reorganized Government of Virginia Approves Separation". Wvculture.org. West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
84. Curry, Richard O. Curry, A House Divided, A Study of the Statehood Politics and The Copperhead Movement in West Virginia, map on p. 49
85. Formation of West Virginia; West Virginia Encyclopedia online; accessed September 2014.
86. The Civil War in West Virginia: Conclusion
87. "Virginia v. West Virginia 78 U.S. 39 (1870)". Justia.com.
88. "Vermont Town Wants to Secede". WND. January 10, 2004.
89. Keese, Susan (March 1, 2005). "Winhall rejects secession, still unhappy with Vermont". Vermont Public Radio.
90. John M. McClelland Jr. (Summer 1988). "Almost Columbia, Triumphantly Washington". Columbia Magazine. 2 (2). Archived from the original on April 26, 2012.
91. John K. Wiley, 'Cascade Curtain' Symbol of a State's Split Personality, Associated Press in Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1992.
92. Keith Eldridge, State-Splitting Measure Gets Its Day In The Legislature, KOMO News, February 22, 2005.
93. "The History of The Sovereign State of Winneconne - Map Makers Napping When They Should Have Been Mapping". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
94. "The History of The Sovereign State of Winneconne - Sue for Peace". Sovereign State of Winneconne website. Retrieved September 13, 2014.

Further reading

• Erwin, James L. (2007). Declarations of Independence: Encyclopedia of American Autonomous and Secessionist Movement. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313332678.
• Michael J. Trinklein (2010). Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It. Quirk Books. ISBN 978-1594744105.

External links

• Shears, Andrew (December 8, 2011). "From Absaroka to Yazoo: The 124 United States That Could've Been". - article where Shears used this article and others on Wikipedia to make a map