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Despite Republican Bluster, Texas Does Not Have the Right to Secede from the US
Texas secession is a myth that needs busting
When the Republican Party of Texas held its convention last month there was, as you would expect, more than enough crazy to last a lifetime (I wrote about the dumpster fire it was here). Among the many ludicrous resolutions in the new party platform, one stood out to me simply because it’s a myth I have dealt with for my entire life. The platform calls for referendum in 2023 so that Texans can vote on whether or not to secede from the United States. Here’s the exact line from the platform:
“Texas retains the right to secede from the United States, and the Texas Legislature should be called upon to pass a referendum consistent thereto.”
The key word in that sentence is “retains;” it implies that Texas has always had the right to secede, a right granted to it when it joined the United States in 1845. This is something even the nuns taught us in Catholic school back in the 1970s, so it’s not a new thing. There have been calls to secede and reestablish the Republic of Texas for as long as I can remember. There’s only one problem.
It’s a myth.
Texas cannot “retain” the right to secede because neither Texas nor any other state has ever had…
