The bill doesn’t appear to have much of a chance. And even if it did, experts say, Texas can’t just secede.
“The legality of seceding is problematic,” Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Texas Tribune in 2016. “The Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues.”
Many historians believe that when the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox in 1865, the idea of secession was also defeated, McDaniel said. The Union’s victory set a precedent that states could not legally secede.
In the years after Texas joined the United States, tensions over slavery and states’ rights mounted. A state convention in 1861 voted 166-8 in favor of secession — a measure that was then ratified by a popular vote, making Texas the seventh state to secede from the Union.
After the Civil War, Texas was readmitted to the Union in 1870.
Yet even before Texas formally rejoined the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that secession was not legal, and thus, even during the rebellion, Texas continued to be a state. In the 1869 case Texas v. White, the court held that individual states could not unilaterally secede from the Union and that the acts of the insurgent Texas Legislature — even if ratified by a majority of Texans — were “absolutely null.”
If there were any doubt remaining after that, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set it to rest more than a century later with his response to a letter from a screenwriter in 2006 asking if there is a legal basis for secession.
“The answer is clear,” Scalia wrote. “If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, ‘one Nation, indivisible.’)”
legal, that is a funny term. It only applies to people willing to follow it. We have prisons bursting at the seams with folks who don't care about "legal". When there is no force behind it, legal means nothing. Look at the lawlessness of riots across the country. All those riots were illlegal, however there was no enforcement of the law, therefore it went unchecked. If Texas secedes, you can bet there will be a bunch of other States that will follow. They will quickly organize a pact of mutual self defense and form their own Union. This is not an ideal situation, however the current Federal government can toss around the term legal all they want, it will not make any difference because they will not have the means to enforce it. It will end in another bloody Civil War and this serves no good purpose.
So if the South had won the war instead of the North, would it still be illegal to secede? The question would be moot, since there would then be 2 independent sovereign countries, and the South would have proven their case, that yes they can secede.
The bill doesn’t appear to have much of a chance. And even if it did, experts say, Texas can’t just secede.
“The legality of seceding is problematic,” Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Texas Tribune in 2016. “The Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues.”
Many historians believe that when the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox in 1865, the idea of secession was also defeated, McDaniel said. The Union’s victory set a precedent that states could not legally secede.
In the years after Texas joined the United States, tensions over slavery and states’ rights mounted. A state convention in 1861 voted 166-8 in favor of secession — a measure that was then ratified by a popular vote, making Texas the seventh state to secede from the Union.
After the Civil War, Texas was readmitted to the Union in 1870.
Yet even before Texas formally rejoined the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that secession was not legal, and thus, even during the rebellion, Texas continued to be a state. In the 1869 case Texas v. White, the court held that individual states could not unilaterally secede from the Union and that the acts of the insurgent Texas Legislature — even if ratified by a majority of Texans — were “absolutely null.”
If there were any doubt remaining after that, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set it to rest more than a century later with his response to a letter from a screenwriter in 2006 asking if there is a legal basis for secession.
“The answer is clear,” Scalia wrote. “If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. (Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, ‘one Nation, indivisible.’)”
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/29/texas-secession/
I'm guessing the British Empire said that the colonies couldn't succeed, but here we are.
Plus, you don't ask the tyrannical body you're trying to secede from for permission. Do you think there's any chance of them saying ok?
Yeah, but the while point of secession is Texas saying "we're no longer part of the USA, these laws don't apply to us any longer".
So unless the USA wants to go down and shoot people until they agree to stay...
legal, that is a funny term. It only applies to people willing to follow it. We have prisons bursting at the seams with folks who don't care about "legal". When there is no force behind it, legal means nothing. Look at the lawlessness of riots across the country. All those riots were illlegal, however there was no enforcement of the law, therefore it went unchecked. If Texas secedes, you can bet there will be a bunch of other States that will follow. They will quickly organize a pact of mutual self defense and form their own Union. This is not an ideal situation, however the current Federal government can toss around the term legal all they want, it will not make any difference because they will not have the means to enforce it. It will end in another bloody Civil War and this serves no good purpose.
The left is just waiting for an excuse to shoot citizens until they bend the knee.
Sounds about right. I mean left.
Lol federal gov has no say at all when it comes to war
So if the South had won the war instead of the North, would it still be illegal to secede? The question would be moot, since there would then be 2 independent sovereign countries, and the South would have proven their case, that yes they can secede.
I don't know, if we southerners had won there wouldn't be all this liberal bull shit.