What If The United States Had MORE States?
317,863
Published 2023-08-04
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▶ In this video I talk about a few potential new states that could have existed in the United States. As well as some that might still come to exist in the future. It was 1959 when the last two states joined the union: Hawaii and Alaska. Now, in 2023, a lot of discussion remains on whether two specific territories should become the 51st and 52nd states: Puerto Rico and Washington DC. In addition to covering these potential expansions of the US, I also talk about some historical opportunities that there have been for additional states to exist in the contiguous territory of the United States of America. Some of them more recent, and others far back in history. Among these are the Jefferson State proposal, in the pacific coast, taking parts of rural California and rural Oregon. The protest state proposal of Absaroka, which would take up parts of Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming; related to the supposed failure of these states' governments to adequately distribute New Deal subsidies to farmers. Two native America state proposals: Sequoya, in present day Oklahoma, as well as Navajo in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. South Georgia, which is a recent example of a threat of secession due to a sense of abandonment by the state's central government. As well as the Superior state, named after the neighbouring lake, which would see the upper peninsula separate from the rest of Michigan due to its natural divide. West Kansas is another example of a threat of secession due to lack of regional funding, showing us how the urban vs rural issue is at the heart of many of these potential state separations. Although sometimes they are also ideological issues, taking advantage of natural / territorial divides to justify their desire of a new state, as is the case with the proposal to break California into 6 new states, or to separate the state of Washington in two, creating the Eastern state of Liberty. Finally we also take a look at the proposals to break up New York, due to the different realities between New York City and the rest of the state, attempting to follow the example of Vermont, which historically was a part of New York, but managed to separate from it in the 18th century and become its own state. An example that regions such as West New York or Long Island have attempted to follow at times.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:48 Jefferson
02:24 Absaroka
03:38 Sequoya
05:14 Navajo
06:39 Superior
08:16 West Kansas
09:10 West New York
10:03 Long Island
10:19 Liberty
11:16 Washington DC
11:51 Puerto Rico
12:37 Summary
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All Comments (21)
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Are there any other proposals for additional US States that you know of?
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The most unnecessary thing in the history of history would be to divide the Dakota's further than they already are.
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As a Michigander, you are dead wrong about driving to the UP. Everybody all the time takes the Mackinac Bridge, I’ve never met anyone who purposely drove around Lake Michigan to get there.
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As a Floridian, I’m surprised there isn’t a movement to create two states, here. North and South Florida are very different places.
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10:56 as an Eastern WA resident, there is VERY much a political AND cultural divide in Washington state that is split between both sides of the cascades, which surprises people when they visit the state. Western WA is more culturally and politically dominated by Seattle, while Eastern WA is more dominated culturally and politically by Spokane, Yakima, and Tri-Cities. The climates are also drastically different. Western WA is more humid, with lush and green forests, while Eastern Washington is mostly dominated by a dry hilly grassland carved out by glacial floods. Life here resembles that of Idaho where theres mid-size towns with little rural towns dotting our land scape. Western WA's industrial power focuses more on Technology and Manufacturing while Eastern WA is more based on Agriculture, and Power Generation. It's definitely a different world on both sides of the cascades.
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The name "Absaroka" is derived from the Hidatsa name for the Crow people, meaning "children of the large-beaked bird" and shares a similar name to the nearby Absaroka Range.
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One thing that should’ve been mentioned with superior is that the mackinaw bridge was built which connected the two sides of the state. This helped to bridge the gaps between the two… literally. And was a major contributor to succession movement dying out. Also… Macon Gerogia is pronounced “May-kin”
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For the record, the MacKinac Bridge has been connecting the two parts of Michigan since AD1957. The I-75 is a major freight corridor that runs into Canada.
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I’m from Washington and can confirm the west and east side might as well be different countries.
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South Dakotan here who obtained my double degree in Geography and Geography Information Sciences in South Dakota as well. I cannot express how happy you made me! Finally someone recognized the East River/West River divide of South Dakota! Culturally, geographically, politically (to some extent), & economically. You're probably the first I can recall that has gotten this right! Thank you so much! 😊
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If West Kansas had somehow gotten statehood, the rest of Kansas would look like a “little Nebraska”
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I would thoroughly enjoy a video on the various proposals to split California into various pieces. I've lived in California all my life.
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At 7:35, you say that travel thru the two peninsulas of Michigan requires travelling thru other states. This is not true. Ignoring the existence of ferries, there is a bridge (which is part of I-75) between the two peninsulas at the straits of Mackinac (pronounced “mac-in-aw”).
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I lived in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for two years while attending Northern Michigan University in Marquette. I loved it up there but, I was much younger and into winter sports. It isn't difficult to get up there at all. Even when I was at NMU, the mining industry was only a very small fraction of what it once had been. Tourism and timber are the two industries that would support a new state, there. It would not be economically viable. By the way, the eastern third of the Upper Peninsula was always intended to be a part of the state of Michigan.
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Correction: You do not need to amend the Constitution to create a new state from established states. All you need is the state legislature(s), Congress, and the President to approve. Every year for the past few years, a bill has been brought forward to create the state of Liberty. However, unlike South Dakota, the state of Washington will only do bills that the leadership of the state House and Senate will allow. In South Dakota, every bill has a chance to get voted down. Which is one of the reasons Governor Noem doesn't want to go back to Washington DC.
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As a person who lives in the Pacific Northwest, i can assure you that virtually EVERY design for the State of Liberty includes the Idaho Panhandle counties so the new state would stretch to the Montana border. Northern Idahoans feel ignored by Boise.
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There is an error in the bit about the State of Liberty (part of Washington state). Gen Knowledge says Article 4 Section 3 says: "no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State", but that is only part of that section. The relevant section contains a conditional exception. The full relevant section says: "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress." So it is possible to do it. Just not easily.
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The two peninsulas of Michigan are connected by the Mackinac bridge. Ther is normally no need to take the long way between them.
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The split of the state of Washington is mirrored in Oregon, for the same reasons. The population of the eastern, rural, more conservative area wants to become part of Idaho, because they are fed up with being ignored by the state government, which focuses mostly on the coastal areas. By the way, if you want straight state borders, check out the map of Australia.
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Navajo has the accent on the first syllable. All the rest of your Native American pronunciations were spot on though. Also, the Navajo area is a separate NATION within the U.S., so representation as a state would have to be approved by the Navajo Nation first, and i dont think they want in.
