Should Alaska be given Independence if the majority of the people wish it.

[AngelFromKansas]

Alaskan governor Sarah Palin wants Alaska to be free so why not let them have a vote on it.

[Person Man]

No. We decided this issue in 1865. If someone wants to reopen this debate in 2008-2009, they will have to contend with WMDs. nukes probably won't work well on Alaska, but chemical and biological weapons would work perfectly. For example, if I was responsible for a vibrant succesionist movement, I would know that many, if not most of my followers and enemies would not survive.

[AngelFromKansas]

No. We decided this issue in 1865. If someone wants to reopen this debate in 2008-2009, they will have to contend with WMDs. nukes probably won't work well on Alaska, but chemical and biological weapons would work perfectly. For example, if I was responsible for a vibrant succesionist movement, I would know that many, if not most of my followers and enemies would not survive.

i think we should give them the opportunity to express if they are american or alaskan

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Alaskan governor Sarah Palin wants Alaska to be free so why not let them have a vote on it.

in america we end qustns wth a qustn mk.  k thx bye

[Person Man]

No. We decided this issue in 1865. If someone wants to reopen this debate in 2008-2009, they will have to contend with WMDs. nukes probably won't work well on Alaska, but chemical and biological weapons would work perfectly. For example, if I was responsible for a vibrant succesionist movement, I would know that many, if not most of my followers and enemies would not survive.

i think we should give them the opportunity to express if they are american or alaskan

They can say what they want....but if you want independence, you must fight for it.

[dead0man]

It would greatly depend on why they wanted to leave.  If they wanted the freedom to bring bondage back, I'd say no.  But if they just wanted to be free to use their own resources as they see fit and otherwise be free from the bureaucracy of D.C., I'd have no problem with it.  If they planned on remaining friends with us I'd even support them in their quest.

[??????????]

Yes, every state has that right.

[Bono]

Yes, every state has that right.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

We've already settled this; no secession.

[JSojourner]

[minionofmidas]

It's not about whether Alaska has the right to secede. It's about whether it would be the right thing to do for the US to let them go.
I'd demand a supermajority - 60%, 67%, summat like dat - but otherwise yes.

[7,052,770]

One nation, indivisible.


No.

[??????????]

One nation, indivisible.

We've already settled this; no secession.

Yes, through fear, violence and intimidation. NOT through a proper court of law.

[JSojourner]

One nation, indivisible.

We've already settled this; no secession.

Yes, through fear, violence and intimidation. NOT through a proper court of law.

Yeah, I have to admit...we were pretty violent when we shelled Fort Sum...oh.  Nevermind.

[??????????]

One nation, indivisible.

We've already settled this; no secession.

Yes, through fear, violence and intimidation. NOT through a proper court of law.

Yeah, I have to admit...we were pretty violent when we shelled Fort Sum...oh.  Nevermind.

What about when your soldiers were raping women and drowning blacks in rivers?

[CultureKing]

One nation, indivisible.

We've already settled this; no secession.

Yes, through fear, violence and intimidation. NOT through a proper court of law.

Yeah, I have to admit...we were pretty violent when we shelled Fort Sum...oh.  Nevermind.

What about when your soldiers were raping women and drowning blacks in rivers?

wow... seriously? This was over 150 years ago and attrocities were committed on both sides. Accept life as the way it is and understand that there was a reason the south didn't win independence (for one they went about it the wrong way).

[bgwah]

Only if we get to replace them with British Columbia

[John Dibble]

Secession is a sticky issue. On the one hand I think people should be free from a government they don't wish to be part of, and on the other hand governments can't possibly be stable if any geographical area within it can leave on a whim. Secession would become a standard threat in politics, which I don't find acceptable.

An area should have independence if

• it is supported by the supermajority (2/3 or 3/4 the population)
• the area seceding will not have to depend on the nation it is seceding from in order to survive
• there is sufficient justification for such a move (this is subjective, but it shouldn't be something petty - it needs to be something like serious oppression or an extremely radical divergence in political views)

Autonomy is an acceptable alternative if these requirements aren't met.

[??????????]

One nation, indivisible.

We've already settled this; no secession.

Yes, through fear, violence and intimidation. NOT through a proper court of law.

Yeah, I have to admit...we were pretty violent when we shelled Fort Sum...oh.  Nevermind.

What about when your soldiers were raping women and drowning blacks in rivers?

wow... seriously? This was over 150 years ago and attrocities were committed on both sides. Accept life as the way it is and understand that there was a reason the south didn't win independence (for one they went about it the wrong way).

Yep, they brought the issue up. I'm simply answering it. Why do I get blasted for it?

[Јas]

IMO, Right to self-determination > Right to territorial integrity.
Indeed, for me, once a majority are in favour of secession/independence/whatever, the burden is on those pushing the right of territorial integrity to produce a compelling reason why this should not be so.

[MasterJedi]

Nope, secession isn't legal.

[Daniel Adams]

Well, if the majority desires it, the government is free and democratic, and no minorities are oppressed, then yes. Note the CSA failed on the last count.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I'd only support the secession of a state in cases where the U.S. is bad enough that it's going to be hostile and aggressive anyway, so I guess I have to say no.

[JSojourner]

One nation, indivisible.

We've already settled this; no secession.

Yes, through fear, violence and intimidation. NOT through a proper court of law.

Yeah, I have to admit...we were pretty violent when we shelled Fort Sum...oh.  Nevermind.

What about when your soldiers were raping women and drowning blacks in rivers?

SR,

I wrote a response but timed out and then the kid was freaking out because of a thunderstorm.

Okay --

You know what hacks me off that I am sure you will agree with?  POW camps.  Much is (rightly, I think) made of Andersonville and other camps where northern soldiers were mistreated.  But you almost never hear about the utter atrocities committed against Southerners held at Camp Douglas and Elimira.  Some others, Johnson's Island for example, were no picnic either.  But here's something we Yankees often miss.

The Yankee soldiers held in Rebel prisons were often starving...but it's not like the surrounding communities were feasting.  Yet northern civilians would take picnic lunches to the fences outside Camp Douglas and chow down...while their Southern cousins starved inside.  I consider that shameful and a war crime.

You won't get any argument from me on the fact that Union troops and civilians did horrendous things to Southerners and in the South.  What I will argue is that, while there is no excuse for it, the North did not initiate hostilities.  Fort Sumter was just the most famous.  Federal Arsenals all over the South were overrun, sometimes violently, before there was actual war.  In more than a few cases, Federals were killed in the process.  Which was an act of war.

But I agree -- that in no way excuses the brutality visited on Confederate POWs or civilians during the unpleasantness.  And I am sure you will agree there is no excuse for the atrocities commited against Federal soldiers, either.

What I have found heartening is reading the letters and diaries of soldiers and civilians who had positive experiences with their "enemies".  I have a Bible once owned by Francis Edwin Davis of the 51st Georgia, who was wounded in action and captured just before Antietam.  Sewn into the cover is a CDV photograph of a man in civlian clothes.  The inscription on the back is, "My kind Yankee nurse, John Miles, whose kindness and attention can never be repaid."

I've read similar reports of Southern compassion for northerners.

[Ronnie]

You are a troll, that's all I have to say.