(the Secession) the  historical withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the US Union in 1860, lead to the American  Civil War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0fegDJuLqo0

The Catalonia region is in the Northwest corner of Spain are threatening to succeed from SPAIN,, Spain’s biggest regional economy, are looking to capitalize on the financial crisis in Spain to gain independence.

Secession is illegal under the Spanish constitution, but Mr. Mas says the constitution won’t stop his region from leaving, if it comes to that nationalists in Catalonia  are asking central government to allocate a bigger share of tax revenue to the region  “If we cannot reach a financial agreement, the road to freedom for Catalonia is open,” said Catalonia’s President Artur Mas.

In 1932 a compromise with the central government granted Catalonia autonomy; this was revoked with the 1939 Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War, and Francisco Franco’s government adopted a repressive policy toward Catalan nationalism. The reestablishment of democratic rule after Franco’s death again led to autonomy in 1979. Today it is the richest and most industrialized part of Spain.

In Great Britain, Canada and Belgium, parties that run or have  influence in the regional governments are calling for  secession from countries with long histories.

Scotland want to hold a “yes or no” referendum on independence in two years time to break away from the United Kingdom.

Belgium is riven by tensions between Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia, with the capital, Brussels, caught in the middle. A secessionist party in Flanders(nva) has been campaigning for more autonomy and, if possible, a breakup. A variety of plans have been drafted for splitting up the country: Flanders and Brussels, Wallonia and Brussels and even all three as separate entities. So far, much talk has produced no consensus, let alone a solution.

Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments have held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995; both were voted down by voters, the latter defeated by a very narrow margin. In 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the “Québécois as a nation within a united Canada

Each of these breakup threats is, of course, rooted in different histories, causes, personalities and current realities. They all have a hard intellectual case to make, since each of the threatened countries offers, by any reasonable measurement, a high standard of living to its people (although Spain is suffering at the moment) and full protection of human rights. This explains why each secessionist movement is unlikely to succeed, although much time and energy will be expended in the effort.

The secessionist case, at heart, is a cultural one: that the minority is different than the majority in some defined way – the definitions being usually exaggerated – and can only assert and protect its difference by leaving the old country.

To justify cultural nationalism, secessionists paint a brighter economic future for their smaller state  – an assertion usually based on either flimsy or distorted evidence. Just in case, secessionists insist their little states will be part of larger economic blocs to secure their prosperity, will a little country such as Catalonia or Flanders or Scotland  have a stronger voice in the huge European Union than within their existing countries ?

In the United States history the question of secession arose several times before the Civil War, but the term generally refers to the withdrawal of the Southern states from the Union in 1860–61. Secession has also been an issue in other countries. Panama in 1903 seceded from Colombia partly because of Colombian opposition to plans by the United States to construct the Panama Canal. In 1967 the Ibo tribe of Nigeria, unwilling to be ruled by other tribes of that African country, tried to set up the Eastern Region as the separate nation of Biafra. Some French Canadians urge that the Province of Quebec secede from Canada on the grounds of political and cultural discrimination.

In 1803–04 a small number of New England Federalists, facing decreased political power as a result of the admission of Southern states to the Union, proposed a separate nation to be called the Northeastern Confederacy. The idea did not gain support and was abandoned. Other Federalists hinted at secession in the Hartford Convention, 1814–15, called to protest the War of 1812, but they were disregarded. In 1832 South Carolina raised the threat of secession in the nullification crisis.

To many Southerners the election to the Presidency in 1860 of Abraham Lincoln, who won with exclusively Northern support, placed in jeopardy both slavery and states’ rights. Southerners knew that abolition of slavery, the basis of the cotton economy, would be financially disastrous. Even if slavery were retained, the South feared political domination by the North, which was attempting to bar extension of slavery into all future new states.

Although there were groups in each state that were strongly opposed to secession, in 1860–61 seven states in what was known as the Lower South seceded. On February 4, 1861, they formed the Confederate States of America. After Lincoln’s call in April for a militia to enforce federal authority, four border, or Upper South, states seceded and joined the Confederacy. (In one of these states, Virginia, the western counties refused to secede from the Union. They set up their own government and in 1863 became the state of West Virginia.)

Lincoln rejected the argument put forth in the Confederacy that secession was constitutional and treated the secessionist states as groups in rebellion. The South’s attempt to secede was thwarted by force of arms, and the constitutionality of secession has never been determined.

As of Saturday November 10, 2012, citizens from 15 States have petitioned the Obama Administration for withdrawal from the United States of America in order to create its own governmentes including texas have-filed-a-petition-to-secede-from-the-united-states

States following this action include: Louisiana, Texas, Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon and New York. These States have requested that the Obama Administration grant a peaceful withdrawal from the United States.

These citizen generated petitions were filed just days after the 2012 presidential election.

Louisiana was the first State to file a petition a day after the election by a Michael E. from Slidell, Louisiana. Texas was the next State to follow by a Micah H. from Arlington, Texas.

The government allows one month from the day the petition is submitted to obtain 25,000 signatures in order for the Obama administration to consider the request.

The Texas petition reads as follows:

The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.

As of 12:46 am, Sunday, signatures obtained by Louisiana, 7,358; Texas, 3,771; Florida, 636; Georgia, 475; Alabama, 834; North Carolina, 792; Kentucky, 467; Mississippi, 475; Indiana, 449; North Dakota, 162; Montana, 440; Colorado, 324; Oregon, 328; New Jersey, 301 and New York, 169. Many more States are expected to follow.

A petition is not searchable at whitehouse.gov until 150 signatures have been obtained. It is the originator’s responsibility to obtain these signatures.

The Texas petition can be reviewed and/or signed by clicking here.

where does the peoples stand in law concerning secession from the “United States of America”?

The Supreme Court has interpreted the institution created as a government over the people, not an agreement between the States.

The phrase “to form a more perfect Union” has been construed as referring to the shift to the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation.

In this transition, the “Union” was made “more perfect” by the creation of a federal government with enough power to act directly upon citizens, rather than a government with narrowly limited power that could act on citizens (e.g., by imposing taxes) only indirectly through the states.

Although the Preamble speaks of perfecting the “Union,” and the country is called the “United States of America,”

The phrase has also been interpreted to confirm that state nullification of any federal law, dissolution of the Union, or secession from it, are not contemplated by the Constitution

In the hand-written engrossed copy of the Constitution maintained in the National Archives, the British spelling “defence” is used in the preamble ( the National Archives transcription and the Archives’ image of the engrossed document.

The United States Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1869)  that unilateral secession was unconstitutional while commenting that revolution or consent of the states could lead to a successful secession.

the court further held that the Constitution did not permit states to secede from the United States, and that the ordinances of secession, and all the acts of the legislatures within seceding states intended to give effect to such ordinances, were “absolutely null”.

you may join but u may never leave ….where have i heard this before ? welcome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUbTW928sMU

Lyrics: On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself, ‘this could be heaven or this could be hell’ Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say…
Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face Plenty of room at the hotel california Any time of year, you can find it here
Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the captain, ‘please bring me my wine’ He said, ‘we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’ And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say…
Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face They livin’ it up at the hotel california What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice And she said ‘we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’ And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before ‘relax,’ said the night man, We are programmed to receive. You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave!