# Say the states that wanted to secede did. Then what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 15, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272 "2013-10-15T02:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/1 "2013-10-15T02:19:10Z")
From [this](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/petition-to-secede-states_n_2120410.html) (and similar articles I have been reading lately): What would happen if the deeply gerrymandered red states actually seceded from the US and formed their own Red States of America or Republican Republic of Republically Republican Republics of America (RRRRA)? How would their government fair in five or ten years? I live in Texas, and our lovely Governor has talked about secession from the US from time to time. So what would happen? What would really happen if the blue states were to be their own collection of states and the red ones another? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/2 "2013-10-15T02:24:39Z")
Well, there’s some precedent for that. It was called the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression, in some places). The government was just fine after a while, although things didn’t go too well for the states that seceded. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/3 "2013-10-15T02:27:26Z")
Well, the blue states, that is, the United States of America, would do just fine, but the red states, that is, Dumbf\*\*kistan, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/4 "2013-10-15T02:29:11Z")
Texas Land Commissioner and LG candidate Jerry Patterson wants [the blue states to secede from the Union](http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/10/11/jerry-patterson-texas-liberal-states-secede/2966519/). ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/5 "2013-10-15T02:29:33Z")
I know that Texas really couldn’t hold it together that long as a nation of it’s own, but there was a lot of direct challenge to its sovereignty from Mexico at the time. I wonder if the RRRRA would be more of a target for terrorist activities from jihadists and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/6 "2013-10-15T02:37:11Z")
> [@Translucent\_Daydream](#): > > I wonder if the RRRRA . . . The whut?! ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/7 "2013-10-15T02:40:59Z")
**Brain Glutton** > [@Translucent\_Daydream](#): > > … and formed their own Red States of America or Republican Republic of Republically Republican Republics of America (RRRRA)? Just me trying to be cute. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/8 "2013-10-15T02:43:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Texas Land Commissioner and LG candidate Jerry Patterson wants [the blue states to secede from the Union](http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/10/11/jerry-patterson-texas-liberal-states-secede/2966519/). Who says they get to keep it? Or, after thinking to myself for a minute… Maybe they can have this country, its kinda jacked up. Maybe its time to flush and start with a clean bowl. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/9 "2013-10-15T16:01:47Z")
Let’s say we had the Blue States of America (BSA) and Red States of America (RSA). Job 1 would be to apportion to each its share of the national debt. Suppose we just did it by share of the former USA’s population. Fine, whatever. If we can do that, then each new nation has its own currency, own laws, own capital. The RSA could outlaw abortion and teach creation in school and recite the Lord’s Prayer to their heart’s content. The BSA could have the carbon tax and do away with the destructive Bush tax cuts. In fifty years, the BSA will thrive and have to seal its border with the RSA. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/10 "2013-10-15T16:26:27Z")
50 years? More like 5 weeks. Without the subsidy they get from the blue states the red states would go tits-up in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/11 "2013-10-15T16:35:13Z")
Who says the subsidy would end? Don’t both halves still need each other? Can the BSA feed itself? ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/12 "2013-10-15T16:36:24Z")
What States would we assume would be most likely to succeed? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/13 "2013-10-15T16:38:36Z")
Texas has to give our Space Stuff back. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/14 "2013-10-15T16:49:15Z")
There aren’t really forty-two states that want to secede. Look at Texas, as a prominent example: a population of 26,000,000 of whom 60,000 signed a secession petition. That means over 99.7% of the population haven’t asked to secede. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/15 "2013-10-15T16:51:47Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Who says the subsidy would end? Don’t both halves still need each other? Can the BSA feed itself? Can Japan feed itself? They seem to be okay with importing food. There would be trade between the BSA and RSA, that’s a given. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/16 "2013-10-15T16:53:46Z")
Those petitions were online, not limited to Texans. I haven’t yet heard of any state having an actual secession motion in progress. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/17 "2013-10-15T17:24:57Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > What States would we assume would be most likely to succeed? And which would be most likely to [suck eggs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_69:_The_Way_to_Succeed_and_the_Way_to_Suck_Eggs)? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/18 "2013-10-15T17:28:25Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Can Japan feed itself? They seem to be okay with importing food. There would be trade between the BSA and RSA, that’s a given. Exactly. So it’s not as if the RSA would be somehow adrift and all on its own, either. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/19 "2013-10-15T17:56:24Z")
Are you allowed to move from one country to the other before the secession? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272/20 "2013-10-15T17:59:59Z")
There’s no real interest in this from anyone with power. Statements to the contrary are just a sop to dumbasses who like this kind of rhetoric. That said, if someone really tried to secede there would be another war. The Civil War settled this: you don’t get to join the Union and then back out just because you are unhappy about one law or your lack of control. The Constitution is a binding agreement. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-the-states-that-wanted-to-secede-did-then-what/671272.md?page=2)