Marisela Frausto Humanities 1100 Dr.

Bauman December 5, 2012

The Texas Secede

Is seceding from the Union really an educated decision made by the residents of the state of Texas? Or are these citizens just making what they believe is the last attempt to save their state? The state of Texas is currently facing one of their biggest issues in the history of the state and possibly the nation. A large amount of its residents are attempting to get secession of the state from the Union and become their own country. They are frustrated by how the Federal government is running the country. By doing this they will be able to make up their own government and also create their own laws. Supporters believe that this would protect the standard of living and secure their rights and liberties. The head of the Texas Nationalist Movement is a gentleman by the name of Daniel Miller. Mr. Miller is heading this movement under the pretense that he is following the principles of Thomas Jefferson. He has managed to get citizens to pass the required number of 25,000 signatures to warrant an official response from the White House. As of November 13, 2012 the state had over 100,000 signatures. Texas Governor Rick Perry does not support the petition for the Lone Star State to secede from the Union stating that The greatness of our Union should not be changed. The idea of secession is nothing new to this state since it had been its own nation until it joined the Union in 1845 and has attempted to secede several times before this last Presidential election. Of course

government was different when the United States first came together as a Union. The leaders were genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of the people and the country. The powerful enemies such as the Middle Eastern countries were not as powerful. I have done thorough research on the issue of secession sought out by the State of Texas and found hundreds of articles that have some information on Texas and their request to be separated from the Union, yet most of the articles are still full of information of past attempts to secede by Texas and other states. The most accurate information that I found was on CNN.COM, MSNBC NEWS, EBSCO host, ABCnews.com, FOXNEWS.COM, and Texassecede.com.

In my opinion all of the articles that I read agree on the fact that Texans seem to believe that Washington persists on expanding budget deficits and Federal debt. They assume that by restoring Texas to an independent republic they will gain control of their state, they will have liberty, control their property, and have full control of their lives. They want to get away from a fraudulent politicians and bureaucrats. In our chapter Introduction to Freedom, Responsibility, and Justice we read Martin Luther King, Jr.s writing that stated Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever, the urge for freedom will eventually come. That is how all of these followers may have felt and decided that is was time to do something about it. But is this the freedom that Mr. King meant when he said that? As the founding fathers of the United States of America made clear in the Declaration of Independence in 1776: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of

mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government

We can also question if eventually after secession the new country would face any of the issues faced in the chapter Identity, Privilege, and Inequalities. Will there be bigotry? Are social prejudices going commence? Will there be men fighting over whom will have more power in their new leadership? If they do succeed in seceding, will the people eventually start where they left off on their religions? Will the freedom of practicing Sacredness, Spirituality, and Morality still exist in the newly established country? Or will the new leaders demand the followers to start a new religion? The citizens willing to continue living in Texas may need to question how their new country would protect its citizens from issues mentioned in our reading named Death. In case of an attack by any other country, would they have a chance at survival without our financial and military power to back them up? Or if they were to have a plague of massive consequences, would they have the medical response that they would have right now? I believe that having the state of Texas secede from the Union would turn out to be a huge disaster in which Texas would not survive for long. In light of the fact that they are a state of mostly conservatives, and the fact that our nation is very quickly seeming to be moving away from being a democracy and becoming a Marxist society. The rest of the world who has always

looked at us as a strong and powerful country may see the secession of any state as evidence that we are now weak and divided. We are called The United States, it is easy to comprehend that United we stand, divided we fall. Citizens should worry about many issues if Texas was to secede. For example, if Texas was to become its own country, would that make it a requirement for citizens to have a passport just to visit any family or friends that were stuck there by accident or choice? Would something so simple now become an intercontinental issue? Other issues Texans would face if they were allowed to secede would be things like having to make up their own currency, their own banks, and doing it all with none of the federal assistance that they currently have. What about the protection of the people in Texas? With them now being a new country and without the protection of the United States make them sitting ducks for any greedy country wanting to possess the massive oil resources in Texas? Texans that are willing to fight for the right to secede should re-think this idea and make the educated decision our country allows them the precious freedom to make.

Reflection Statement I am working towards acquiring my Associates degree and becoming a Paralegal. When I was informed that one of the required courses for this degree was a Humanities 1100 class I could not find the connection of that course to what my goal in career choice is. I found out that there would be a lot of reading and writing during the duration of this class, but reading that had nothing to do with being a paralegal. I was in for a pleasant surprise when we started the class and the projects and readings taught me there was a reason for having to take this class, I was learning about many differences in people and their lifestyles. All of my newfound information on races, religions and personal beliefs will eventually assist me in understanding the clients that I will one day be dealing with. The assignments were all challenging and complex and taught me how to do extensive reading and analyzing. The most interesting part of this class to me was reading and discussing the different religions and spiritual beliefs. The lessons learned in this class will not only help me throughout my upcoming years of education but also in how I will deal with issues and people in the future.