States that Almost were

[marksiwel]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =125142955" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ever heard of the States Desert? Texlahoma? Long Island? Lost Dakota?

Also if you enjoyed this article it came from NPR (DONATE)

[seamusTX]

There were many of these would-be states. There were several attempts to divide Texas into different states. At times, small areas made claims to be separate states, and some of them held their own for a while. See http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=25798" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Congress was not inclined to allow tiny areas to be admitted as states, with the two senators that every state gets, nor to allow huge western states that might someday form large voting blocks (obviously allowing California to be admitted as one state was a mistake).

A character named "Cap" Streeter claimed in the 19th century that a sandbar that formed around his grounded boat in Lake Michigan was not part of Illinois or Chicago, and he tried to make it into a profitable vice den: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Streeter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[glbedd53]

I don't know for a fact but I was always told that Texas came into the union with the right to divide itself into 4 states.

[seamusTX]

The bill that admitted Texas as a state contained a provision that allowed four more states (five total) to be established:

New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas and having sufficient population, may, hereafter by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, ...

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/ ... h1845.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, the consensus is that the original provisions were wiped out by Texas secession and readmission.

- Jim

[Mike1951]

I don't know for a fact but I was always told that Texas came into the union with the right to divide itself into 4 states.

Correct.

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Texans voted in favor of annexation to the United States in the first election following independence in 1836. However, throughout the Republic period (1836-1845) no treaty of annexation negotiated between the Republic and the United States was ratified by both nations.

When all attempts to arrive at a formal annexation treaty failed, the United States Congress passed--after much debate and only a simple majority--a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States. Under these terms, Texas would keep both its public lands and its public debt, it would have the power to divide into four additional states "of convenient size" in the future if it so desired, and it would deliver all military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government. (Neither this joint resolution or the ordinance passed by the Republic of Texas' Annexation Convention gave Texas the right to secede.)
In July 1845, a popularly-elected Constitutional Convention met in Austin to consider both this annexation proposal as well as a proposed peace treaty with Mexico which would end the state of war between the two nations, but only if Texas remained an independent country.

The Convention voted to accept the United States' proposal, and the Annexation Ordinance was submitted to a popular vote in October 1845. The proposed Annexation Ordinance and State Constitution were approved by the Texas voters and submitted to the United States Congress.

The United States House and Senate, in turn, accepted the Texas state constitution in a Joint Resolution to Admit Texas as a State which was signed by the president on December 29, 1845. Although the formal transfer of government did not occur until February 19, 1846, Texas statehood dates from the 29th of December.

Opposition to Texas' admission to the United States was particularly strong in the North during this period. If a challenge to the constitutionality of the move could have been made successfully at that time, there is little doubt that the leaders of the opposition would have instituted such a suit in the Supreme Court.

Narrative by Jean Carefoot
Texas State Library and Archives Commission April 1997

[OldSchool]

Well, I can only say we're very attached to a family from the Great State of Jefferson.

[boomerang]

I don't know for a fact but I was always told that Texas came into the union with the right to divide itself into 4 states.

Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.

[threoh8]

At the tail end of World War II, there was talk of Newfoundland joining the Union. Probably a bluff, but Canada was not about to let that happen.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

In a related media piece, The History Channel is going to show
"How the states got their shapes." It's a 1 hour show.

This show is going to air on Tuesday, 4/6/10, 800-900 PM Central,
on Time Warner Cable in the North Texas area.

Consult your local cable schedules for variations.

SIA

[bdickens]

Aha! Maybe that's how Barry gor confused and thought there were 58 states.

[RPB]

Aha! Maybe that's how Barry gor confused and thought there were 58 states.

Which one is Kenya? Isn't that close to Rhode Island?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3XsO9I6 ... r_embedded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;