The other thread about the US’s states and territories got me wondering. The US Constitution lays out the procedure for admiting new states to the union in Article IV Section 3:
As I understand it, a territory must petition Congress to admit it as a state – this is what happened during the westward expansionism of the 19th century. And occasionally, there is a ballot refferendum in Puerto Rico about whether or not to petition Congress for statehood.
So, has anything ever petitioned Congress for statehood and been rejected? Has Congress ever refused to admit something as a state to the union?
I don’t know if it’s happened yet, but I’m pretty sure that if Puerto Rica DOES petition Congress for statehood, they’d be denied. While they have a beautiful land and a great tourism-based economy, many people are poor, and the last thing we need is more people on welfare!
Yes, I think it happened back in the days when the Congress was worried about how many slave states there’d be relative to the number of free states. Texas (slave state) took 10 years or so to get in, but California (free state) took only three weeks and change. Both were “Republics” before being made states.
I don’t beleive Congress outright refused admission and statehood, but rather made iffy cases territories.
Hawaii was the only independent and internationally recognized nation to become a state. The monarchy was overthrown by people who were mostly expatriate Americans, then the resulting “republic” was admitted as a territory a few years later, to become a state in 1959.
Alaska, for one, passed a referendum for statehood in 1946. A statehood bill was passed by the House in 1950 but killed by the Senate, due to concerns that the state would vote Democratic and change the balance of power in Congess. Alaska didn’t finally gain admission until 1959.
An article is found [url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/BARTLETT/49state.html]here[/url.]
The Republic of Texas was recognized by several nations. Holland was the first to recognize us. France and the UK soon followed; they hoped to use Texas to gain a new foothold in North America. The USA recognized us after waiting to make sure that Mexico wouldn’t get too miffed over it, as Mexico still claimed the land. Mexico never recognized the Republic’s legitimacy, thus the Mexican War after annexation.
Texas even sent and received ambassadors to/from the nations who recognized them.
No cites, just memories from my Texas history class.
The irony of the situation is that Alaska was only admitted when Hawaii applied too, with Senators assuming Alaska would vote Democratic and Hawaii would vote Republican. Alaska has only voted for a Democrat for president once (1964) while Hawaii has swung to the GOP only twice (1972, 1984). Alaska sends 2 GOPers to the Senate, Hawaii sends 2 Dems. Alaska has a conservative GOP congressman, Hawaii has two very liberal Democratic congresspeople. Gotta love political realignment.
Michigan had to recognize Toledo as part of Ohio to become a state, and it was two years from the time they petitioned until they were admitted, but I don’t know if the petition was ever denied.
I believe that when the original Lone Star Republic, the Republic of West Florida, was created in 1810, it applied for statehood and was denied on the grounds that the territory was already incorporated into the United States as a part of the Louisiana Purchase.
The “Lost State of Franklin” in what is now eastern Tennessee tried to secede from North Carolina in 1784 (while the U.S. was still governed under the Articles of Confederation, before the present Consitution was adopted.) It applied for admission to the Confederation, but was denied. The area became part of Tennessee when it was admitted in 1789, the second new state admitted under the Consitution (after Vermont).
As an earlier poster mentioned, France did recognize Texas as an independent nation, and King Louis-Phillippe sent an ambassador to take residence here in Austin, then the capital of the Republic of Texas.
The French Legation building still stands, and is one of the few historical landmarks that visitors to Austin regularly get dragged to see.
I’d thought to bring up Franklin, but I see it’s been well covered.
Hawaii was an independent monarchy under the Kamehameha family from very early in the 19th Century until 1893, when American interests led by the Dole family (IIRC) overthrew Queen Liliuokalani and proclaimed a republic. They immediately instituted efforts to bring Hawaii into the Union, but President Cleveland refused to annex them. In 1898 McKinley was more cooperative – but they didn’t get statehood until 1960 (I’m not sure of why).
Incidentally, American settlers in Hawaii asked to be admitted as a state as early as 1854. President Franklin Pierce proposed a treaty that included annexation and immediate statehood, but this was rejected by the Senate.
If Hawai’i had been a state in the 1850s, it would have taken a very long time get those final presidential election results in.
Hawaii statehood was opposed by some even in the 1950s because certain people noticed that not everyone in Hawaii is white. That did not set well with certain members of Congress at tht time, but their numbers were few by 1959.