Lifestyle

What is the Likelihood of a ‘Texit’ and Would Texas Survive as a Sovereign Nation

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Tony Maples Photography

 

For approximately 10 years in the early to mid-1800s, Texas was its own independent nation. In a video posted by NowThis on their YouTube channel, it’s explained that at that time, the state wasn’t in a very good position economically (amassing a large debt), nor was it able to properly police or defend itself. It did, however, maintain a quiet trade policy with Britain. British foreign policy when dealing with trade had some underpinnings that would require Texas, the country, to abolish slavery in order to keep that trade partnership. Hence, to circumvent that matter, the U.S. negotiated the annexation of Texas into the fold as the 28th state, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, however, there has been popular discussion about the provision of a “Texit” clause, whereby the state of Texas could become a country of its own accord once again. NowThis takes a look at the actual possibility and legalities of such a vote for seceding, and what would be required for this to eventually take place. Since the U.S. Constitution neither allows nor prohibits individual state secession, the decision would ultimately be a matter for the Supreme Court, which did in fact already happen once before, in 1869.

Just 24 years after the annexation, the matter of Texas v. White and the ability of Texas to secede from the United States landed in the Supreme Court. The conclusion was that America, in effect, was a perpetual union, and there was no clear or apparent way for any one individual state to secede. Despite how popular the topic has been in recent years, the majority of Texans appear to have no interest in leaving the U.S., with only 18 percent voting to leave, and 75 percent wanting to stay (with a minimal margin of uncertainty). NowThis wraps up this video with a GDP review, which identifies that if Texas were ever to secede, its economy would land somewhere in between Australia and Spain, as the 14th largest economy in the world. This gives reason to believe that it could, in fact, now sustain itself were secession ever to occur. Their facts definitely give way to further discussion around the bar or television set of “backyard” or “kitchen table” politicians regarding the potential for a “Texit.”