What If The United States Had MORE States?

Potential Additions & Historical Proposals of More US States
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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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[@General.Knowledge]

*Are there any other proposals for additional US States that you know of?*

[@MyFiddlePlayer]

There are intermittant proposals to split up Texas too.

[@Rishnotfishandnochips]

There is actually a law that allows Texas to split into five states without approval from congress

[@montecorbit8280]

I don't know about proposed States, I can tell you the Texas when it joined the agreement was to allow them to split into five separate States at some later time. That should be interesting....

[@montecorbit8280]

​@@Rishnotfishandnochips Don't think it's a law, think it was the treaty that was put into effect to merge the two Nations....or later agreement afterwards.

[@mikesands4681]

You didn't explore DC, Puerto Rico, the territories

[@bixbysnyder-00]

The most unnecessary thing in the history of history would be to divide the Dakota's further than they already are.

[@OliveDasi]

No. South Dakotan here (and someone with a double degree in Geography and Geography Information Sciences). The way he has it is not only culturally appropriate but geographically appropriate. There is a huge divide between 'East River' and 'West River' here.j West River is very much like Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. It's more ranches, hilly, and the people/culture are different. East River is like Eastern Minnesota, which is nothing like Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth. We are the South Dakota that people usually think of. Flat farmland. So he's actually very much right and it's very much appreciated. And note: ​Not every post is political. There are obviously complex issues to why this would not happen. I'm just saying it's nice that someone recognized the cultural and geographical differences of East and West River when it is a known deal out here, but not really anywhere else. That's all.

[@archstanton6102]

Could you not combine the Dakotas, to then add Peuto Rico or DC as a 50th state?

[@michaelrae9599]

​@@OliveDasiwe don't divide states up based on lifestyle. The fact that there is at least SOME diversity of opinion in every state is a fundamental reason why the US is so strong. The Dakotas were North and South specifically for Congressional reasons, and this is what Republicans want again. I think we should divide the country so that there are 50 states with the same population size. That way each vote has equal weight. Better yet, just get rid of the Electoral College

[@bixbysnyder-00]

@@OliveDasi I meant in terms of population. Dakotas were originally split back in the day because of political corruption anyway

[@OliveDasi]

​​@@michaelrae9599I'm not saying we SHOULD. Unfortunately the Electoral College is an absolute nightmare of a system. I know this. But not every post is political. I'm just saying it's nice that someone recognized the cultural and geographical differences of East and West River when it is a known deal out here, but not really anywhere else. That's all.

[@petepizzo9646]

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.

[@matthewlannoye]

I believe he was referring to before the bridge was built, when the UP first became a part of Michigan

[@brandongorte4746]

Prior to 1957, one took state auto ferries between the two peninsulas.

[@rogink]

I assumed he meant the bridge might have to close in bad weather? To this outside observer logically it would make sense to add the detached part to the state to the south (Wisconsin?).

[@nrrork]

No, we NEVER would've taken a land route around the lake. That's absurd. Before the bridge, they had car ferries. And before cars or rails, the fastest way to get up there would've been by water, not land. Our waterways are one of our greatest assets.

[@mpetersen6]

​@@rogink Most of the UP was part of the Wisconsin Territory until Michigan lost the war with Ohio.

[@Sector001ked]

As a Floridian, I’m surprised there isn’t a movement to create two states, here. North and South Florida are very different places.

[@jennyi8383]

Facts. I love in South Georgia region. A new state wouldn't work,(not enough revenue) but most people would definitely join north Florida. We have much more in common with them than north ga.

[@Konusu]

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.

[@rfresa]

Same with Eastern Oregon. They keep making noise about wanting to split off and join Idaho or form a new state.

[@SignificantNumberOfBeavers]

My grandparents live in eastern Oregon. Normally I think secession movements are stupid, but allowing eastern Oregon and Washington to join Idaho just makes sense. The Cascades are a natural boundary for culture, politics, and economy.

[@zachs8765]

yep, and i constantly meet people from the westside that move over here (TC) and marvel how clean it is, how nice it is, how cheap it is, but them complain that "there are just too many conservatives though..."

[@Zach_StarWarsFan]

⁠@@zachs8765 You mean East? Not sure when you began to believe that West Washington is cheap 😂, Seattle is one of the most expensive cities to live in the US, along with Portland and urban California. Thankfully, Michigan has relatively low gas prices and home prices (including apartments). The best states to live are swing states, since it usually requires both sides to negotiate.

[@zachs8765]

@@Zach_StarWarsFan misunderstanding.... i meant people the westside move over here to the eastside and are happy with how cheap it is on the east...

[@notsure1277]

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.

[@RJStockton]

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.

[@JoskMclaren]

As an aside, the long running TV series Longmire is supposedly based in Absaroka county.

[@eric2500]

Cool!

[@TheSlowoldman]

@@JoskMclaren GREAT series too....

[@BoyNamedSue4]

I’m from Washington and can confirm the west and east side might as well be different countries.

[@Arcboltkonrad13]

I'm from the East side of WA and please keep us! We'd end up being annexed by Idaho and that scares me!

[@groom_of_the_stool]

​@@Arcboltkonrad13Yeah, really worried about Spokane.

[@Worldaffairslover]

@@Arcboltkonrad13Washington is full of junkies. I’m in Spokane and am leaving asap

[@MrPolandball]

@@Arcboltkonrad13 Good! I hope Idaho takes over lands and liberate them from the government run by drug addicts and prostitutes. If that scares, then you’re free to move to Seattle and playing with your precious needles you whiny pig.

[@perfectallycromulent]

then you should try actually going to another country. you'll find there are real differences that have existed for centuries then, not nonsense about urban vs rural people from the same state that's only been around since the late 19th century.

[@jbach2002]

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”

[@willp.8120]

Or May Kun

[@mikeguilmette776]

@@willp.8120 Also, Ontonagon is pronounced "on-ta-NAW-gan." The narrator put the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle . . .

[@thejohnnyjonesvillaincolle1777]

Many Yoopers would rather just blow the bridge and be our own state

[@benn454]

@@mikeguilmette776 And Navajo is pronounced "na-va-HOE", not "na-VA-hoe".

[@Thoralmir]

Like "bacon".

[@OliveDasi]

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! 😊

[@General.Knowledge]

Thank you! And thanks for watching :)

[@Emanon...]

Good for you. However, I'd still argue that no one ever needed two Dakotas.

[@MOHINI-VAISHALI]

❤❤❤hiii

[@geraldmeehan8942]

Maybe Dakotas should have been divided east and west instead of north and south. Waaaaayyyyyy too few people to merit a separate state

[@OliveDasi]

@@Emanon... And if you knew anything about people or the culture out here, a not insignificant portion of people would actually agree with you - including myself. Compromising the Dakotas - West River - into parts of Wyoming & Montana would be ideal. Putting East River Dakotas into Western Minnesota would also be the best option as well. It's not like South Dakotans are ignorant or don't think about this. We didn't decide to be one state - it happened centuries before us and in a way that was absolutely unfair & horrific to the Indigenous people who had this land for Millenia before us. We, like literally every single person on Earth, have to live in the circumstances that history has provided to us - no matter how unjust it is.

[@Zac-ho3wr]

If West Kansas had somehow gotten statehood, the rest of Kansas would look like a “little Nebraska”

[@frustationoverloaded5976]

Little? They r barely different size

[@charlessapp1835]

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.

[@benmcgill2018]

Thank you, I was hoping somebody was going to correct him

[@charlessapp1835]

@@benmcgill2018 You are welcome. The US has used this method to split states several times already. Vermont, (which he mentioned), Kentucky from Virginia, Maine from Massachusetts, and West Virginia from Virginia. The last one was done without approval from the Virginia legislature, but as the western counties were seceding from the Confederacy to join the Union, the Union didn't mind.

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

Quite correct.

[@benmcgill2018]

@@charlessapp1835 it really shouldn’t be as hard as it doubtless will be

[@alexs1640]

@@benmcgill2018 of course it should hard. Then any time someone part of the state is unhappy, it'll just want to split. Mostly rural areas wanting to split from urban ones, which is pretty silly considering the rich cities subsidize rural areas.

[@markmh835]

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.

[@Worldaffairslover]

You mean the north Idaho Nazi enclave?

[@alanhyt79]

That area is crawling with white supremacists, neo-nazis, and FBI agents.

[@trep53]

I love how these rural citizens have a grudge with the metropolitan citizens. I thought these folks purposely choose to live in an underdeveloped area to have their FREEDOMS!

[@frustationoverloaded5976]

​@@trep53so u want 100 % urbanization? who would run the rural areas then?

[@scottdavis691]

@markmh835 : It is a fact that about half the population of northern Idaho feels ignored by Boise. The other half of the population of northern Idaho feels ignored by Girlsey.

[@SageArdor]

I would thoroughly enjoy a video on the various proposals to split California into various pieces. I've lived in California all my life.

[@DragonTheOneDZA]

Dude shut up you just don't wanna live in California

[@sethd.8381]

My condolences my fellow Californian

[@General.Knowledge]

Nice! It's on my list :)

[@MOHINI-VAISHALI]

❤❤❤good

[@tabletgenesis3439]

Tierra del Frontera in the extreme south, San Francisco, Los Angeles, South Cascadia in the extreme north, Jefferson but without the new South Cascadia, Westcoastland being as thin as Oklahoma's panhandle and extending from the north border of LA to the south of Jefferson, South Westcoastland being as thin as Westcoastland and extending from the south border of LA to the southwest border of Tierra del Frontera, Sacramento State in Sacramento, California-Nevada in the remaining border with Nevada, and the rest is...... California.

[@heronimousbrapson863]

The two peninsulas of Michigan are connected by the Mackinac bridge. Ther is normally no need to take the long way between them.

[@dlfjessup]

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”).

[@ericburton5163]

I was wondering about this. And I decided to look up Superior state proposal. Then I realized my man General Knowledge read the wikipedia page for Superior (proposed state) and just removed the word Yooper (I'm guessing he didn't want to try and pronounce it) and then didn't read the next paragraph talking about the Mackinac Bridge.

[@Emanon...]

Interesting (pronounced hhhmmm)

[@ARabidPie]

And the bridge isn't even new. It's been around since 1957.

[@DDS029]

@@Emanon... Even more interesting is spelling of Mackinaw City. In Mackinaw City there is Fort Michilimackinac, while there is Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island in the Straits of Mackinac. The Mackinac Bridge crosses the Straits of Mackinac to connect Mackinaw City with St. Ignace. (Whew . . .) My guess is that it was some weird blending of Native American and French. In the far northeast portion of the Upper Peninsula, there is a bridge crossing that connects Sault Ste. Marie, MI, USA and Sault Ste. Marie, ONT CANADA, which is pronounced "Soo Saint Marie". There was a lot of mix of Native American and French naming influences in Michigan. So much so that it's hard to tell where a name came from. Native or French. Or as in Mackinac/Mackinaw a mix of both.

[@mikeguilmette776]

@@DDS029 Some around here have argued that "Mackinac" and "mackinaw" refer to different things - in Anishnaabe lore, Mackinac Island is the Great Turtle, and from which all other land then formed. "Mackinaw" is alleged to refer to a native style of coat or overgarment. And you're spot on about the mixing of native language and French - "Chippewa," for example, is the French mispronunciation of "Ojibwa."

[@michaelrae9599]

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.

[@wazoo41]

texas is a seperate nation too

[@RK-cj4oc]

Still part of the US. If we decide it they listen. Dont make up fairytales. Our nation is undividable.

[@tdoectrolynd2296]

@@wazoo41no. It isnt.

[@bruhbutwhytho2301]

@@wazoo41stop making shit up

[@callmefleet]

@@wazoo41 200 years ago, it was, but not anymore dude

[@gerardbryant1445]

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.

[@devinbutler3271]

Why is it only conservatives cry when their population is ignored by state governments? I’d argue the same about Florida, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Alaska, Tennessee, and Indiana who despite having a large democratic population that can be consolidated to smaller areas are governed by supermajorities because of gerrymandering

[@joshuamathisen5526]

Focuses on “coastal areas” YOU MEAN WHERE THE PEOPLE LIVE? Did you mean the area where most of the people live?

[@Robert.Smith6969]

@@devinbutler3271 I guess those conservatives just got more balls than you do. I mean you lefties can start doing it as well and make things a bit more equal as well as interesting, but of course you gotta build up a little bit of spine first.

[@HahnJames]

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.

[@mikeguilmette776]

You beat me too it. The reason why the borders of Mackinac and Luce counties cleanly bisect Da U.P. is because that was the original proposal for the state border.

[@HahnJames]

@@safe-gt4vc For sure.

[@josueveguilla9069]

Greater Idaho, comes to mind. New California, also comes to mind.

[@TimandSarah]

My thought: Combine Liberty and GI and join the remaining western areas Oregon with Washington.... but what would you call that state?...

[@General.Knowledge]

Which one would New California be?

[@josueveguilla9069]

@@General.Knowledge The small part of California in the West Coast.

[@MCEvans66]

Idea take “Liberty”, “Greater Idaho” and “Jefferson” into one and call it Cascadia

[@illuminoti8525]

@@josueveguilla9069 bro this isnt fallout new vegas

[@jdawg8487]

The problem with new states being formed is that it requires the votes of the state legislature and Congress to approve of the creation of new states. Plus, many of the proposed states in question are areas of the country that are not exactly known for being well off economically and often rely heavily on money from the state they’re already a part of. Also as a resident of Michigan, it is true that there have been proposals in the past to make the UP its own state but for practical reasons (and for the reasons I already mentioned) it has little chance of success. It is also an inaccurate statement that you have to travel through another state to get to the UP, since the Mackinac Bridge provides a direct connection between the two peninsulas.

[@ericburton5163]

Totally agree. Although I do find it funny that you always hear of rural areas wanting to be separate states, while you don't hear that from urban areas. Like I've never heard of people from Austin or Salt Lake City say they want to be their own states and complain about being ignored and whatnot even though they say that those cities are so liberal when talking about how conservative Utah or Texas is. Don't know if that says more about the people, or that it really is better to have "rural conservatives" dominate "liberal urban areas". (I'm hoping it's the former).

[@EmperorGoliaththeEverliving]

I wouldn't be surprised once the bridge was built that a vast majority of those clamoring for separate statehood calmed down. Before that point, they did have good points of being unable to cross over from the LP to the UP in inclement weather or the winter. There may have been proposals of transferring the UP to Wisconsin as well for obvious reasons.

[@mayer14474]

​@@ericburton5163look who's doing better! Taxes and Florida have done much better than California and New York lately.

[@mayer14474]

​@@EmperorGoliaththeEverlivingstill, making it part of Wisconsin makes more sense geographically

[@MOHINI-VAISHALI]

Hi

[@cyberherbalist]

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.

[@General.Knowledge]

That's true, I hadn't found that full version, thanks for the clarification! But I would guess that whichever State the new one would be breaking away from would necessarily vote against it, thus making it impossible? Sort of how EU membership must be approved through a unanymous vote from current members, causing a potential independent Catalonia to never achieve membership due to Spain's opposition.

[@familygash7500]

If a new state is going to be created out of New York, then it should be Upstate New York. It's flag will consist of a steamed ham with the aurora borealis in the background.

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

Yea like you get NYC over 8 million people then the second state is the rest of Newyork

[@Frog_Puppet]

Well I'm from Utica and I've never heard that idea.

[@Ulrich_dArth]

Not in Utica, no, that's an Albany idea

[@nikolai6489]

@@kurtpunchesthings2411Would make since nyc be its own state part of ct and nj would join with it than a couple of ny towns and cities near nyc because could probably use some of it for farmland.

[@nikolai6489]

@@kurtpunchesthings2411the city would probably be called the city, nyc, or just city. It wouldn’t be a city state unless only nyc joins, and all the bourgs would need to stay one city for it to. So, you would have to call nyc something different. Probably new NYC than nyc stays the same

[@groom_of_the_stool]

I used to live in Wyoming. In order to get into the area where Absaroka is, you have to climb onto a plateau. Absaroka is the name of a large basin that is lower in height than the rest of the plateau. The basin was named by the Shoshone peoples.

[@GarrettFruge]

Admitting new states is a fairly cumbersome process even in the best of times, but it's probably nigh impossible nowadays given the shrill, hyper-partisan nature of politics in the U.S. Which is to say new states drawn from more liberal or conservative areas would tilt the balance of power in congress one way or the other.

[@x--.]

Yeah, a real shame the ideals of our great nation can't be observed. All our people deserve representation.

[@Drewzer154]

If only there were some sort of structure that could span a distance of water to connect the U.P. to the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

[@montanamade8712]

Just for clarification, the name Absoroka is pronounced “Ab-Sor-Ke”. I know it’s weird, but since I’ve spent most my life in Montana and know the town well, I know how we pronounce it. There is a small detail in the upper Northwest that had Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Western Montana as one state. They had various bad names as well, but the Name of Adams or Spokane kind felt right (WAY better than the Washidamont someone dreamed up!). That state idea is still kicked around today, though if W MT left the state, it would turn into East Dakota and just as awful… Now, let’s talk about annexing Canada as North Montana… 😂

[@steeplecab]

You mean West Dakota - with a likely state capital of Miles City, since urban Billings would want to stay with the more urban western Montana.

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

I love when foreigners try pronouncing American English words. Sometimes they sound better like 'Navajo' (was pronounced nahVAHo) or worse with 'Chickisaw' (was pronounced Chickisow'). No disrespect is intended. I'm quite certain that I'd mispronounce many European place names. 😉❤️

[@Ciscopete24]

Another one is Macon GA which is pronounced "May-cun"

[@InsensitiveLout]

onta-NOGGIN in MI.

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

@@Ciscopete24 I knew that one.

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

@@InsensitiveLout I would have 'murdered' that name.

[@christopheradams3271]

Having been born and raised in Western NY (Rochester), and grown up in the Finger Lakes region of the state, I could totally see it as being separate and distinct from the rest of New York. With population centers like Buffalo and Rochester, it has a decent population. And frankly, it has more in common with Toronto in Canada than it does with New York City. It's a Great Lakes / Rust Belt region that has more in common with a Cleveland / Detroit / Chicago than it does with an Eastern Seaboard place like NYC. Different from NYC right down to the beers available at bars (Molson, Labatt Blue, Genesee) to the music played on the radio (rock/punk/alternative), to knowing the difference between a fish fry versus fish n' chips. But divide 'em? Meh. People in Western NY are fond of saying that their tax dollars pay for "all the people on welfare in NYC." But then again, NYC's multinational companies and ultrawealthy real estate owners pay for all the rural infrastructure in the rest of the state, so... call it even?

[@rexblade504]

It's not about what we give or get, it's about the laws that we despise and wish to live under laws we feel better represent our beliefs. And many of these laws have made Western NY poorer and lead to it's decline, so I wouldn't call it even

[@alexs1640]

New York City is the richest city in the world. The people's taxes there are going to work for the rest of the state. Anyone who says it's the opposite (or even) is just wrong. It's the same all around, every rural area wants to split from the economic centers which happen to be cities without thinking of the consequences of such a move. Trust that a split in New York will hurt the rural areas more than NYC.

[@alexs1640]

@@rexblade504 that's just the nature of progress. Jobs are becoming more technical, interconnected. More people are moving to the city and suburbs to be close to well paying jobs. Western NY isn't unique in that it's declining. That's happening in a lot of places around America. Ghost towns are becoming so common in America with just 1000 residents because the rest of them just up and left. But you do have local laws that differ from state and federal law. What law specifically are you talking about that's repressing you? I hear it all the time from people and I know it's not as easy as it sounds, but you could always move to a place that fits you better instead of trying to change a place to fit you.

[@rexblade504]

@@alexs1640 U.S. Supreme Court rulings (see Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims) that established a mandate of one man, one vote in all state legislatures. The rulings gave New York City significant legislative advantages over upstate, which coincidentally entered a prolonged economic and population decline at around the same time. That's the big thing but it's almost every law that's coming out now like the infringement on gun rights, forcing electric school buses on districts who don't want them and so on. I don't have to change where I live it fits me, the problem some city that is on the other side of the state hours away forced us to live by their rules.

[@alexs1640]

@@rexblade504 isn't that the nature of the beast? Some religious minorities in the center of the US forced us to live by their rules in other states too. Look up Roe v Wade. I agreed with people who said it should be left up to the states, and it should, but now Republicans are moving to make it federal. Why should I have to do what the minority who elected a president who lost the popular vote and elected 3 Supreme Court Justices who changed the rules for all of us? Just the way it is, I don't get to decide to break away from the country cause I disagree with the law from the minority. Anyway, looking it up, it seems like upstate New York is doing much better than it has been previous decades, so I'm confused. The data I'm looking at says that by every metric, upstate is getting better, from jobs, wages, housing, GDP, investment, unemployment, population and more are looking better. It seems like Cuomo did a lot for upstate in terms of investments, not sure how Hochul is doing yet, but he created industry in upstate, like nanotechnology, renewable and even invited Silicon Valley companies with tax incentives to upstate. That includes semiconductors. Where do you think that investment money to improve upstate New York is coming from if not New York City taxes? If there was a split, not only would that cash incentive dry up, but how exactly do you think that would stop the supposed bleed of upstate NY? Seems like you're just more concerned about politics than what actually makes sense. Upstate New York is very red, unlike the rest of the nation, we mostly work with each other. Otherwise Cuomo, a Democrat, would not be investing so heavily in a red part of his state. But he is. I think you should probably put the blame more on your own local government than on a city far away. Also I'm curious, what gun rights are being infringed upon specifically? I'm looking up NYS gun laws and it seems like you're pretty free to own any gun you want as long as you have a permit. As for electric school buses, that should be celebrated. Why would you want to keep paying for gas with your taxes? Electric is much cheaper and also the future. Stop fighting progress and embrace it.

[@jumpyamp430]

The bird in the proposed flag for Liberty is not an eagle but rather an osprey.

[@jnmsks6052]

Honestly, there should be half as many states, or less, maybe around 20. All of the state governments cost more money to the residents, and it would be a lot more efficient to buddy up. The areas around the country that want to split off because they feel underrepresented would be shocked to see how much it would actually cost all of the residents of the newly minted states (all with low populations, so the $ wouldn't be split between millions) just to set up a capital and all of the departments that go along with it. Oddly, it's the areas where individuals tend to be of "small government" mindsets that would actually be paying a lot more for a lot less. It would make more sense to combine the states of Michigan and Wisconsin than it would be to make a new state of the Upper Peninsula, which is a mostly wilderness area with 300,000 residents scattered about in small cities around the Southern shore of Lake Superior and the Northern shore of Lake Michigan.

[@jbrown8601]

Makes sense

[@thisisme1999]

You could also combine a lot of the mini states on the eastern seaboard into one or two. With rising waters it will eliminate a lot of low land states.

[@hans8372]

The governments are mostly so expensive because they are completely bloated.

[@eric2500]

@@thisisme1999 Uh, the water is working on doing that already...

[@eric2500]

I like the idea of regional authorities behaving some real authority over regional issues such as water use, transportation, emergency prep, etc., instead of the way it gets tied up in State politics and being just an excuse for the governors to say "out of my hands".

[@idolpr]

About Puerto Rico, as a Puertorican. The last PR referendum was “Statehood Y/N” it got a total of 655,505 votes out of 2,355,894 voters. Only 54.72% of voters went to vote on 2020 elections because it was not properly managed during pandemic. Which actually means only 27.82% of the total voters chose “Yes”. I myself left that ballot BLANK as it was not redacted as I would’ve liked and it was not a priority after we ousted the previously elected governor.

[@Arkhalis404]

As a Historian i can confirm that If there were 10 more states there would indeed would be 60 states.

[@graham1034]

The irony of rural areas wanting their own state is that they'd get far less funding per capita. Rural areas already receive a higher proportion of funding than cities since it's just so much more expensive to service rural communities. IMO, breaking up states based on political voting patterns seems like a bad idea.

[@labrynianrebel]

Your terms are acceptable.

[@General.Knowledge]

I agree, funding would be lower + the absence of political divides would be short-lived, as new factions would emerge within the same party that would oppose each other anyway.

[@Ry_TSG]

Yeah these places could get better representation within the states that they already live in if those states adopted better systems for voting and legislating.

[@Denebreus]

Well, there's quite an inaccuracy here regarding traveling between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan. There is a bridge called the Mackinac Bridge (quite famous), and this bridge links the two peninsulas. Not only that, but ferries run in the Straits of Mackinac in the tourist season (late spring to early autumn). One does not have to go across two states to get the the U.P.

[@General.Knowledge]

My mistake! Thank for the added information & clarification!

[@jbrown8601]

Lies! Gotta go through Canada to reach lower Michigan.

[@SpartanChief2277]

​@@General.Knowledgeless wikipedia next time

[@davidwhitfield7864]

Really interesting video. The US is such a vast country with hugely different geographical and cultural conditions. I find it all fascinating.

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks! I agree :)

[@MOHINI-VAISHALI]

Very ❤❤❤

[@Rom3_29]

There’s new drive to create greater Idaho. Eastern oregon wants to join Idaho, because political differences.

[@hs5312]

That is just a discount version of Jefferson. The reason for Greater Idaho instead of making a new state is that Greater would change the number of Senators and thereby this proposal removes a significant political reason that causes new state proposals to never happen because neither party will do something that upsets the political balance

[@matthewwelsh294]

Very low chance it will happen

[@andytn6507]

@@hs5312 Disagree. If it would create more blue senators and congressmen the dems would push for it as hard as they could, just like they push for DC in becoming a state.

[@frustationoverloaded5976]

Eastern Washington too. Liberate them from fartland and shitattle

[@asenseoftravel]

One small correction on DC statehood - the proposed statehood name is "The State of Washington, DC," where the DC now stands for "Douglass Commonwealth" after Frederick Douglass.

[@gravityissues5210]

Considering the only reason DC wants statehood is so they can enact a wage tax on commuters-the very definition of “taxation without representation”-all their ideas are bunk anyway. I suspect the movement will finally die out now that most of the feds realized they can work from home in MD and VA (thanks COVID!) The House’s vote was pure George Floyd virtual-signaling-of-the-moment. BTW if all DC really wanted was representation, they’d push for retrocession to Maryland. It’s all about that wage tax.

[@michaelscheel9533]

I remember an article from the late 60's that showcased the possible states that could be formed. Among Superior and NYC there was Northwest IL with Chicago, southern IL below Springfield. I know in Iowa the eastern counties along the Mississippi wanted to break away in the 50's due to strict alcohol and gambling restrictions put forward by the religious groups in Central Iowa. Did you know Younkers declined to join the the five boroughs of NYC

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

​@safe-gt4vcyea that's a surprise but eventually I'm sure that will change

[@noelbecker7002]

Southern Illinois is mostly empty now. Most of thr residents have moved out with the loss of industry to China. I doubt a state of Southern Illinois could support itself.

[@browningcm]

Love your videos. Thank you for the content!

[@Cyroid_1]

Youre videos are slowly getting better over time! Thank you!

[@blondemario]

True story. :)

[@metsfan1873]

You are misreading Article 4 Section 3. Possibly the punctuation is throwing you off. It reads as follows: "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." That last clause "without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress" applies to all the cases listed. The "State of Liberty" could certainly be admitted to the Union, but it would require "Consent" (by passing a law) through the Washington State legislature (being the only state "Concerned") and by the Congress. While both of these "Consents" are very unlikely, they are perfectly Constitutional and require no Amendment of any kind. I call it unlikely because I doubt that such Consent would be voted in, but that's just an assessment of the political likelihood. The idea is 100% Constitutional without Amendment,. Is it a good idea? Ask somebody else.

[@metsfan1873]

Perfect example! Also several of the other "possible states" in this vid are entirely within one current state. But of course, Maine actually happened.

[@stuartm6069]

@@andrewkosmowski3985 Yes, true that Maine was part of Massachusetts, what you didn't know was that Massachusetts passed legislation on June 19, 1819 releasing the 9 Maine counties to decide for themselves what they wanted to do. One month later on July 26, 1819 The 9 Maine counties voted for Statehood.

[@mikesands4681]

12:10. I believe Alaska and Hawaii joined in late 1959, not 1949.

[@keith.wilson1981]

Incredible information! Thank you for your detailed work!

[@johnjohnston6529]

Could you do a video in which there were 50-ish states of similar population? I think that might address some of the rural-urban conflict.

[@StuTun]

Exploration of the idea of a split California video sounds cool. I would be interested to see what flags they would use.

[@x--.]

I sure wish it could happen but never. The Republicans would want to carve out all the coastal urban areas and the Democrats would want the areas to include the coastal urban areas. I could never imagine them finding agreement. On one hand I could see the advantage of dividing up CA to look more like the East Coast (13 colonies anybody?) so there was more representation in the Senate, I think that would really help our nation find the middle ground that seems to have disappeared but given the love of gerrymandering, it's near impossible to imagine. (It also gives the state legislature way outsize power in the US because California is such a huge economy. Dividing it up would mean giving up that power, leaving Texas as the biggest economy)

[@aberdeenhank4038]

Absaroka Range is the name of a range of mountains in the states of Montana and Wyoming, which in turn was named after the Absaroka Native People. 🙂

[@symondupe2744]

the 1st use of the name Jefferson for a state was in the very early 1800's in the Appalachian regions breaking off of the Western region of North Carolina and what would become the Eastern portion of Tennessee. There are still areas in Bristol TN. that you will see the "State of Jefferson" signs and information.

[@WillTurin]

This was a great video although you missed an important aspect of the constitution at 11:05 which states: “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.”(“Constitution of the United States,” art. 4, sec. 3) This means that you wouldn't need a constitutional amendment for the admission of Liberty as a State but you would need the consent of Washington and the Congress. This applies to the other State proposals you mentioned in the video and is the reason it's incredibly difficult for any of them to be admitted to the union.

[@MyFiddlePlayer]

To me, DC statehood, PR statehood, partitioning California, partitioning Texas, NYC-Long Island, Upper Michigan, and Navajo Country make a lot of sense. The others, not so much.

[@B_Van_Glorious]

Statehood for DC, Samoa, Guam and Wake and PR. No taxation without representation. Join as a state or become a nation. Breaking up California, Texas, NY and Florida due to their population densities has some merits. Combining the Dakotas cuz of the lack of population also has merit. but beyond that I think we should just allow the metropolis' city state status. Free Illinois from Lake Michigan and let Chicagos best flag in the country fly free. Split Washington up from Puget Sound, Oregon from the Willamette Valley. Primarily I think we need to instigate the Wyoming rule and uncap the house. We need to expand the supreme Court too, either to 13 and have it match the amount if lower courts or make it one for each state. Idc if that means we have 130 judges and 800 representatives. The dilution of power I will ALWAYS support. Less power = less corruption. Liberty also couldnt fund itself. They even admit that they'd have to raise their taxes, by quite a bit, since they'd lose Seattle paying for their roads and infrastructure. Western Washington is completely fine letting them sink on their own, for the record. Ive talked to thousands of people about this issue. Fuck around and find out.

[@shadow6543]

DC statehood makes no sense

[@thethrashyone]

Splitting up California isn't actually that crazy of an idea. It would give much fairer political representation to the inhabitants, as opposed to the current dynamic where your votes basically don't count unless you cast them for...you know. _The one_ party. (This coming from a California expat who moved away expressly because of the rapidly deteriorating state of things that were a direct result of policies that I futilely voted against.) Edit: Just noticed there's a rather disturbing amount of people in the comments stomping for tyranny of the majority when it comes to denying rural communities of what they need, all for vapid concerns that their precious party's hegemonic power might be diluted. It's almost like the popular perception of city folk as nasty, ill-willed navel gazers who have nothing but contempt for "flyover states" might have something to it.

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

If you were splitting up California it should be North California and South California the border would be discussed then implemented

[@MP-dn4bs]

On a presidential and senate level, rural states have *more* power. What's keeping states from splitting up isn't a grand conspiracy. It's momentum and the tendency to stay with the status quo.

[@mityace]

You are wrong about Article IV due to not showing the whole thing. New states may be admitted by the Congress into the Union; but no new States 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 THE CONGRESS. It has actually happened twice. The first was the separation of Maine from Massachusetts in 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise. The other was the creation of West Virginia. West Virginia is questionable though as the "state government" that approved it was a union loyal legislature created after secession and mainly staffed by people from modern West Virginia. So, an amendment is NOT NEEDED. However, the approval of all state legislatures involved plus congress makes any of these near impossible. DC would either require a constitutional amendment or shrinking the size of DC as the size of district may be set by Congress. Arlington, VA and part of Alexandria, VA were originally part of DC but were ceded back to Virginia as Congress didn't thing they'd need it. LOL. Another way to handle DC would be to shrink the district but simply return the rest of the land to Maryland. Then, they would gain representation. While outside the scope of this video, there are two secession movements that have some traction. A number of counties in Oregon have voted to secede from the state and join Idaho and the Idaho legislature has said yes. But, the chance of the "Greater Idaho Movement" passing in Oregon's legislature, good luck with that. As for Congress in this case, I have no idea. The other one is "Texit." But, this is an independence movement, not a new state request. While support exists, I'd say it's lukewarm at best.

[@Dhi_Bee]

I was hoping you’d also show South Florida as one of the hypothetical states (being a few FL politicians have proposed it before) because of the very political & cultural difference from the rest of Florida. Also the lower 1/2 of Arizona wanting to be their own state too (Baja Arizona)

[@kim-jong-poon]

As someone who's driven from upper to lower Michigan more times i than i can count including many times in the winter i can most confidently say no one EVER has driven all the way around lake Michigan to get to the UP or vice versa. If the winds are too high to take the bridge you simply wait til they die down because sooner or later they will die down.

[@patrickmcneil9180]

The structure of the senate is the biggest hurdle to new states being formed. As long as reform resulted in one of the two major parties receiving more senate votes people would strike down reform. You'd almost have to do in tandem, as in any move that resulted in more red states would be countered by an increase in blue states, and vice versa.

[@javindhillon6294]

As someone who lives in the would-be liberty area, I'm all for it I'm sick of the coastal elite!

[@kate2create738]

Same here, as someone in the Jefferson State region. 😩

[@SeanCain98]

As a Long Islander state hood has be going on for years we almost became a state in 1898 but Brooklyn and Queens voted to join NYC but talks are still going on and in February a local politician has a bill for Long Island to become the 51st state but it’s definitely not going to pass but I wish.

[@mariajoaoferrazdeabreu150]

Congrats, very interesting video.

[@tycelight]

The proposed State of Superior also included the northern 1/3 of present day Wisconsin with the city of Superior to be the capital.

[@yoshman6696]

Illinoisan here, on the 2022 midterms, there was a referendum on the southern counties leaving Illinois to found a new state. Their reasoning is that they feel that the state is centered around Chicago, and that their votes don't matter. As someone who lives in northern Illinois and has traveled to southern Illinois, they are very different. South is rural and north is more suburban and urban.

[@hans8372]

Are you sure they voted to become a new state? I thought they voted to join Kentucky.

[@yoshman6696]

@@hans8372 I'm pretty sure they voted to be a new state. Either way it's a really new movement, so they could change their goals

[@GabrielCole-tb6je]

Hello there.. Love your point of view smile😊If it’s okay with you I was hoping we can text as friends more often

[@natethebass-man2869]

As somebody in Eastern Washington, it is annoying how we often get grouped with the west side. However I REALLY don’t want to only be stuck with Eastern Washington people

[@billsummy2412]

YES Hope to see it happen soon !

[@TheDunestrider]

The Mackinac Bridge makes it easy to travel between the lower peninsula and upper peninsula of Michigan. In fact, the bridge makes it super-easy, barely an inconvenience.

[@josueveguilla9069]

What if Spain had MORE Spanish Autonomous Communities?

[@crazydog4626]

i like that idea

[@josueveguilla9069]

@@crazydog4626Awesome. Even better. Same. Thank you.

[@DragonTheOneDZA]

Dude they already have 3.5 of them

[@93juan]

No please

[@josueveguilla9069]

@@93juan Yes, please.

[@eduardog3000]

You should cover the Greater Idaho movement for eastern Oregon counties to join Idaho. A lot of the counties have already voted for it.

[@matthewwelsh294]

Just a pipe dream

[@kmccleary89]

The Absaroka Range is a mountain range in the northern Rocky Mountains, located in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana. The range is 170 miles long and 50 miles wide, extending in a northwest-southeast direction. It forms the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park along Paradise Valley.

[@crimsonnemesis3511]

We do have a bridge between the two peninsulas in Michigan.

[@TracyII77]

Washington DC was never meant to be a state as it is the seat of power. The vast majority of its US citizens work either directly or indirectly for the government. Having 2 senators would give them undue influence. The city really should be treated the same as military bases where the residents maintain a permanent address or registration separate from where they actually live. In fact, many residents in and around DC already do this. For those who ordinary citizens, the most logical choices would be to he registered in Maryland or Virginia.

[@marcusaurelius113]

Yeah, I live near DC and this is a myth. It's more like 10ish% of DC residents work for the Federal Government. And there's over 700,000 of them! So even if you discount Federal employees (which you shouldn't since they have rights in other states), there are hundreds of thousands of Americans in DC without the right to vote.

[@KingOfSciliy]

It would be more likely that the White House and other Government Institutions would be excluded from the State of Columbia and left as its own Independent District.

[@frankhooper7871]

Having 2 senators gives _all_ smaller states undue influence.

[@jeremyandrews3292]

The Virginia portion of the land used to make up Washington D.C. was already ceded back to Virginia. I think most of the Maryland portion should also be ceded back to Maryland, and the only people left living as actual D.C. residents should be the President and Congress, maybe some of their staff that they employ. There really shouldn't be enough people living in D.C. for this to be an issue, except for the fact that it is evolving into a much more normal city than it was ever intended to be. In fact, if the D.C. arrangement as being separate from any state is to no longer be a thing, we might as well just fold the whole thing back into Maryland and admit that the nation's capital is in Maryland. I don't see how having a DC be a separate state would be any better than just having the nation's capital in Maryland... I mean, if the CIA is in Langley, Virginia, then I don't imagine it will hurt much to have the rest of the federal government in Maryland. Maybe D.C. could be treated more like an Indian Reservation, in that it has its own laws and is somewhat exempt from the legislative acts of the state it resides in, but the people living there can still vote in Maryland elections.

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

@@jeremyandrews3292Neither the people of Maryland or the people of DC want DC to be part of Maryland.

[@coolnath99]

i don’t think republicans would allow dc or puerto rico to become states since that would likely result in 2 more democrats senators.

[@blakekaveny]

People aren’t so sure about Puerto Rico and even if it did they would be joe manchin type dems

[@Patrick-qed]

It should be noted that the most recent proposed name for a state formed out of most of the District of Columbia would still be DC, but that would stand for Douglass Commonwealth (as in Frederick Douglass).

[@PhatRobsOils]

Their was Ferrys In northern Michigan and the Bridge was built in 1950s.

[@kandipiatkowski8589]

This is interesting. I live in Kansas, but never heard of western Kansas wanting to split off from the rest of the state. It is puzzling that a couple of counties shown are not directly next to the others. I missed when this happened. My grandfather was actually county commissioner for Kearny county, which was one of the counties listed. He served for almost 20 years, ending with his death in 1992. My grandmother was even allowed to serve out his remaining term.

[@mattks1001]

Hi fellow Kansan, It was never a big movement, but I’ve heard of it. It really boiled down to time zones and the main economic centers being in Colorado. The bigger movement was for some counties to join Colorado. The central/mountain time zone was changed to include some, if not all of those counties, and that took care of almost all the issues.

[@IslandersFan100]

It was during the 80’s due to property tax increases.

[@TVFILMBUFF]

The irony with these rural areas wanting independence from urban areas is that as soon as they are independent... They will organically grow an urban area to support the new state around whatever capital city they choose.

[@x--.]

What the most extreme want is a civil war, whether they realize it or not, because urbanization is real.

[@InciniumVGC]

Not necessarily, some of those regions already have urban centers, such as Spokane in eastern WA. A lot of states also have capitols that aren't that big, under 100k population.

[@TVFILMBUFF]

@@InciniumVGC That's literally the point. Spokane is an example of a satellite city that only has to deal with local issues... but once it becomes the capital and has to deal with its own increase in population in addition to an increase in responsibility of regional urban/rural governance all while being the centre for financial services, social programs and education throughout an entire state... The rural areas will be back exactly where they currently are. The change being that Spokane is now an urban city dictating their views onto a rural population.

[@karlmiller7188]

Very good points.

[@wombatpandaa9774]

I'd be interested in you covering the briefly proposed state of Deseret, because I recently learned that it was *huge*. It included all of Utah, I think most or all of Idaho, and stretched all the way to what is not California. I think the justification for its large borders were that Mormon pioneers were some of the primary drivers of population growth in these regions, and the state was primarily proposed for their benefit. Of course, the proposal was turned down and the much smaller state of Utah was formed instead.

[@dataweaver]

DC has the problem that the whole point of a Federal District is to not have the capital of the United States in a particular state. The lack of representation could easily be solved by scaling the District of Columbia back to just the government buildings and monuments themselves, and to return the remainder of the land (primarily the residential areas) to the states that donated it: mostly Maryland.

[@MrRetluocc]

Exactly

[@skateryan]

You just have to make the district only encompass the actual property where government buildings are. This has always been a silly argument against statehood for the people living within the district, but well outside of where the government does its duties.

[@MrRetluocc]

@@skateryan - Sure. Then just make the residential areas part of Maryland, which it was before DC was created.

[@skateryan]

@@MrRetluocc Probably because neither Maryland nor the citizens of DC want that?

[@MrRetluocc]

@@skateryan - Of course they don't... They just want two more guaranteed Democrat Senators. Which is why Republicans oppose it and why Democrats oppose the formation of "Liberty" or "Jefferson". It's always politics

[@nasifsiddiquey8867]

If anything, the United States should be more consolidated. It would make regional infrastructure projects easier, faster, and cheaper to build, something the U.S badly needs.

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

The structuring of the Western states is also not particularly good, as they’re often fighting over limited water resources, and some states don’t have particularly good access.

[@jacobstoute9308]

0:00 intro 0:49 Jefferson 2:24 absaroka 3:38 sequoya 5:45 navajo 6:39 superior 8:16 West kansas 9:10 west new york 10:03 long island 10:19 librerty 11:16 DC 11:51 Puerto Rico 12:37 summary

[@alexhamilton4970]

This video was cool however I wish he had shown some stats about these proposed states like population and gdp.

[@jozimoto]

One problem is states with large populated urban areas such as New York City in New York, Chicago in Illinois, Detroit in Michigan are able to dominate influence over rural areas in their respective states.

[@ericburton5163]

Can't speak for New York or Illinois but in Michigan this is simply untrue. For the longest time, western Michigan actually had the most influence over state level policies. Granted this was in coalition with rural areas across the state and with suburban areas of Detroit. But metro Detroit, let alone Detroit itself hasn't really dominated influence over the state (unless you mean like the fact that people are fans of Detroit based sports teams). In fact, until the last election, we actually had a rotten borough type system where rural and exurban voters had an outsized influence on urban areas politically.

[@B_Van_Glorious]

Actually rural communities are over represented in America. By a huge margin. The cities control the narrative because that's where all the people are. One person one vote. It's not rocket science.

[@matthewwelsh294]

Without these powerful urban areas, the rural areas would get poorer

[@B_Van_Glorious]

@@matthewwelsh294 the market obsessed, hands off small government right wants to regulate it's largest markets. Because they think everyone should be forced to live under what they consider correct. People in the city wildly just think "mind your own business". Cutting off it's own nose to spite it's face. They gave up legitimacy and any respectable position when they decided they would rather oppress the vote and legal shenanigans than actually grow as a party. They're thugs and bullies and I won't shed a tear for a single one of them. They've already traded in their humanity, so not seeing them as human seems justified.

[@MrRetluocc]

@@matthewwelsh294 - Without the rural areas, the powerful urban areas would starve and/or freeze to death in the dark.

[@joshuawells835]

I would like to see Puerto Rico, Liberty, Jefferson, West New York (I've also heard of it as New Amsterdam), and Superior become states. I do think that DC should not become a state, but rather the residential areas should be retroceded back to Maryland.

[@zandergoose4707]

agree, DC is way two small to be a state

[@InvaderBryce]

Hi marylander here...MD does not want DC and DC does not want MD. Not only does it prevent MD from ever having a Republican governor again (DC is overwhelmingly liberal), it would shift the balance of power here to DC away from the MD Suburbs. Its a non-starter and not going to happen. I hate when this is brought up as a method to solve the DC issue. Either make them a state OR give them full representation in Congress. These ideas to sidestep the issue are just laziness and people not wanting 2 more Ds in the Senate (it really boils down to that, usually).

[@joshuawells835]

@@InvaderBryce DC does have representation in Congress, but through a non-voting delegate. I do agree that the primary opposition to DC Statehood is balance of power in the Senate. I also take it that you are against 3 Western Maryland counties seceding and joining West Virginia?

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

@@zandergoose4707It’s more populated than both Wyoming and Vermont.

[@InvaderBryce]

@@joshuawells835 I'd rather they have full representation in at least the house of representatives. Allow their delegate voting power. I just really think it's sad that state admissions these days boiled down to whether or not where placating the Democrats or Republicans in this country; that's really pathetic that it has to come down to that. Yes I am against this whole idea of the three westernmost Maryland counties breaking off and joining West Virginia. Because not only is it a waste of time since Maryland's never going to let it happen, it doesn't exactly change their economic situation. Those are some of the poorest counties in the state and they be going to a state that's one of the poorest in the country. The biggest grievance being those counties are often ignored by Annapolis legislators.

[@wilpotocki2453]

I was living in northern Wisconsin in the 70's. There was a movement for the State of Superior which included Northern Wisconsin and the Michigan peninsula from Merrill north. But it never happened. The entire reason was that Northern Wisconsin was unhappy that the southern part of Wisconsin took tax money and little was spent on projects in the north.

[@gregcampwriter]

The chief law enforcement officer of Absaroka would have to be Sheriff Longmire.

[@jiffery5269]

I now understand people who take mispronunciations personally, I have never heard "Macon" pronounced like that from someone who lives in South Georgia. No hate just now understanding that feeling.

[@mosaloquendo]

I think it would make a lot of sense of doing what we did in Argentina in 1994. The city of Buenos Aires was a federal territory but with the new constitution it was made an "autonomous city", still retaining the legal capital but having full autonomy on its decisions. I imagine this as a great solution for the city-rural divide that plagues the U.S

[@RJDA.Dakota]

No, I think that’s how we got the D. C.

[@mosaloquendo]

@@RJDA.Dakota It's important to know the Autonomous City has a Constitution and receives a part of the national tax revenue. It is a province (state in the U.S) and simultaneously it's not

[@SpartanChief2277]

​@@mosaloquendoso like a commonwealth? Puerto Rico then

[@mosaloquendo]

@@SpartanChief2277 Like a city-sized commonwealth

[@theeclectic2919]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Greater Idaho. It's the most likely to succeed out of all of them. You should do a video on just that one proposal.

[@Mekaels_Music]

4:32 the background song is called The Klaxon March. I played that back in high school band

[@Joanna-il2ur]

Just as a thought experiment: as the states are mostly just lines on the map, unlike European ones which mark language and sometimes confessional differences, what if the states were simply abolished?

[@Miloradsfriend]

There are cultural differences between the states, but states are integral to the way by which the country is built.

[@DragonTheOneDZA]

​@@Miloradsfriend wtf is culturally different between Connecticut and Wyoming that isn't an accent

[@Miloradsfriend]

@@DragonTheOneDZA cuisine, politics, geography, demographics, history, and the dialect of English used for starters.

[@callmefleet]

We literally couldn't abolish the states without abolishing our Congress too.

[@Joanna-il2ur]

@@callmefleet From the way it’s run, is that a problem?

[@pvzgamerlegisniana6492]

You should have put West New York as Iroquois, and Long Island as New Netherlands.

[@dreadhead5719]

he isnt making these places up

[@callmefleet]

It wouldn't make much sense to call it Iroquois if the Iroquois League no longer occupies that territory. Navajo is named after the people and Sequoya is named after a Cherokee historical figure

[@jbird730]

"Am I a joke to you?" -Mackinac Bridge

[@mikejones4322]

As someone who lives in Northern California. Please for the love of God. We could not be any more different than Bay area or Portland.

[@Rurouni00]

Don’t mention Greater Idaho, what a joke 😂

[@B_Van_Glorious]

Greater Idaho is a joke in itself. Native Idahoans don't want it, otherwise we wouldve heard of it a long time ago. And they in general don't like the exodus of far right "conservatives" fleeing to their state with the intention of taking over power and redefining it. Which, if you're a native son, has got to feel like a soft invasion, honestly, under the guise of nationalism and freedom.

[@KangaKucha]

What if USA annex Cuba and so on? Bermuda was thought of during the American Revolution. Bahamas might have as well. Heck hold Carribbean and more! Thought about that? Hm?

[@SpartanChief2277]

That's Knights of the Golden Circke bro...

[@rmdodsonbills]

The name "Absaroka" comes from a mountain range in the western part of this area straddling the Wyoming-Montana border. It is definitely true that the Black Hills of South Dakota and surrounding plains has more in common with the lands to its west than it does to the South Dakota prairies.

[@Krieghandt]

Like CA, TX has a permanent proposal to split into 5 states, with the lines already drawn.

[@redarmy1698]

What about Greenland?…. 😂

[@craiglungren8703]

I don’t think Greenland should become a part of USA. I think it and Alaska should become a part of Canada, then 🇨🇦 will have 12 provinces (instead of 10) and 3 territories! 😅

[@redarmy1698]

@@craiglungren8703 as a Canadian y stop with Greenland? We could take Iceland and go he Virgin Islands 🇨🇦 😂

[@craiglungren8703]

@@redarmy1698 good one!

[@craiglungren8703]

@@redarmy1698 taking over Iceland would mean … We are now a Transcontinental Country 🇨🇦 just as much as Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Egypt are! 🥹

[@DragonTheOneDZA]

New Alaska!!!!!!!

[@rachelorlando6296]

States must be financially Self-sustaining, and Puerto Rico's economy is too fragile. Guam voted down statehood the last time it was presented. Washington DC becoming a state would potentially create a conflict of interest with the Federal government, which is why it still does not have statehood.

[@dex6316]

Washington DC statehood proposal has DC being divided into 2 areas. One area would be controlled and managed by Congress and contains the federal buildings and seats of government. The other area would be for all the residents and businesses, and this would become the new state. This proposal would allow DC people to have actual representation and control over their territory, without interfering in the governance of the nation.

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

Puerto Rico’s economic situation would actually improve as a state. It would get access to billions more in federal funds. Its citizens would also get better access to federal programs like Medicare, social security, and family tax credits. And it would have easier access to disaster relief. Having voting representatives in Congress would also allow it to support policies that fit its economic interests.

[@MrRetluocc]

@@dex6316 - If they are going to do that, then the residential areas should just revert back to being parts of Maryland and Virginia, which they were before DC was created.

[@Extinguisher10]

Splitting Washington in half makes a lot of sense. Western and Eastern Washington have very different politics and are very different places with different needs.

[@DayneAllyria]

i know most know but as you did not mention it again, there is a bridge between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan built around the same time as the golden state bridge

[@machjiffy4710]

Macon Georgia is actually pronounced "May-kin" kind of like Bacon (Fun fact they also have a minor league baseball team called the Macon Bacon). Everywhere southeast of Macon is basically all farmland except for the cities of Savannah and Valdosta. Maybe that's why South Georgia never happened since those are relatively big cities in the state.

[@mpetersen6]

Gee, they don't play against the Savanah Bananas do they?

[@machjiffy4710]

Oh God I hope so lol@@mpetersen6

[@mpetersen6]

@@machjiffy4710 I don't want to know what the ball team from Cocksville is called.