Jessica Glauser
Humanities 1100 Final Essay
Claim: Texas secession
Soon after the presidential elections, in November of 2012 Barack Obama was re-elected and
some groups from various states decided they wanted to secede from the union. Texas, being one of
those states, gathered about 80,000 plus signatures to petition the secession. The Texas petition reads:
“Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world,
it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect its citizens’
standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and
beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government”
(Mosbergen, 2012.)
Research: Pros and Cons of Secession
The pros of seceding from the U.S., as stated in the petition, Texas would have a fresh start
without any debt. The state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in
the world (Mosbergen, 2012.) They could create their own government that is able to meet the needs
of the people and is more personable to have a smaller country.
The cons of succession from the United States are that Texas would not be a part of the union
any more. The people that were asked by News Fix Now, a Texas News station, were against succession
from the Union. One man said, “I am not a big fan of having a passport to leave my state.” Another lady
said “We are the United States of America we are all going to have our differences that is what makes us
unique as a country.” To conclude News Fox Now said “So many people talk about the power of the
people but only feel strongly about the principal when the masses are in their favor.” Some Texans have
seen the cons of what secession would bring so the Texas cities El Paso and Austin have filed petitions of
their own requesting to secede from the state of Texas, should Texas withdraw from the union
(Mosbergen, 2012.) What is the reasoning behind the decision to withdraw from the union, Art English,
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a political Science Professor says, “People are very unhappy with the elections and feel their tax money
will be going to a federal government that will be insensitive to their needs.”
Analyzing the evidence
The right to petition your government is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution. Throughout our history, Americans have used petitions to organize around issues they care
about from ending slavery, to guaranteeing women's right to vote, to the civil rights
movement(Peacefully...,2012.) This petition to secede is one event in a long history of war and conflict;
so many people have given their lives for the freedom of the United States. We have so much going for
us and just because one man goes into the White House people forget all that we stand for. We are a
country for the people we fought and many people before us have fought to make our rights and
freedoms possible.
Opinion: My Perspective
In the issue of the state of Texas seceding from the union I have researched and learned some
interesting facts. These groups that write petitions have to realize that there are a lot of things that have
to happen to become a country. For example they have to create their own government thus making a
new way of doing things. Like making money currency for their own country as well as figuring out a
trading route to get the resources that they will need. Honestly, I don’t think they want to follow
through with the secession. They just wanted to have their voice heard to let the government know that
they are not happy about what is happening. If the government pays attention to this petition they will
see that they can keep the United States together. Some people don’t understand what is really
happening they are upset and want a piece of the action. I believe that if Texas does secede from the
union people will get riled up and it could lead to a war breaking out between the United States, Texas
or even cities inside Texas. People will be fighting against themselves because they are unhappy with the
things that have happened. The Civil War came about when the Southern states wanted to secede the
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first time, on the issue of slavery 750,000 deaths resulted from the war. Secession is a big issue and can
become even bigger if enough people get riled up.
Supporting arguments: Humanities in Action
From the first unit there is an article by Susan Anderson entitled “We are our Values.” One of
Anderson’s key points in her article is when making your own value system it is very important that your
values do not conflict/ contradict with themselves. Values need to have completeness with no gaps.
Using Anderson’s notion of gaps, we see that there are many gaps in the Texas petition. Many people do
not agree with Texas seceding.
Freedom, Responsibility and Justice was the next unit that we studied in Humanities. In the
introduction article the main point that is made is that each citizen has a responsibility to their country
that ensures justice. In relation to the issue of secession of Texas I feel like the people just wanted to
have their voice heard so they took the responsibility and made a petition. By doing so it could result in
them getting a response from the White House and lead to them being treated fairly by the federal
government.
We did a unit on religions as I was trying to think of one religion that would support my opinion
on the matter of secession I could not think of just one. I thought about how the Confucians say “Don’t
do unto other what you don’t want done to you.” From the leaders perspective, Obama just got reelected to the white house how must he feel when people start writing these petitions? I have had some
experience being a leader the people that I worked with helped me to learn and become better. I could
not imagine what it would be like if some of the people that I worked with started a petition saying we
don’t like Jessica so let’s make our group and choose someone else to lead us. Hinduism and Buddhism
are all about finding harmony with your surrounding and your fellow men. We need to learn to respect
from those around us. All of the religions were about figuring out the best ways to live our lives.
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Death is the final unit that we studied hopefully seceding will not lead to any death like the first
attempt of secession back in the 1860’s.The question that I would ask about death is how are people
going to feel when they get to that point? When people are about to die they think back on the things
that they have done in life. The things that were fun and enjoyable, their family, all the friends they
made. In the article Death by Lu Hsun he talks about this very thing. Making the point that death is
inevitable and depending on the kind of person you are is how you are going to treat death. When
people think back and remember that they signed a petition to secede from the United States of
America, they are going to be sorry that they were not thinking about the people that it might affect.
Conclusion on Secession
The number that must be reached in order for the White House to take notice of a petition is
25,000 signatures. With 800,000 plus signatures reaching the White House, they can’t help but look into
it. In the preamble to the constitution it states, “We the people of the United States in order to form a
more perfect union establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain
and establish this the Constitution for the United States of America.” In other words in order to keep
these the States United the people have to speak up loud enough for the government to hear them and
“secure the blessings of liberty.”
Reflection: Answering questions using Humanities
In this course we did a lot of class discussions on the topics that we had read prior to coming
class. I learned that I am not very good at verbalizing my opinion when I think a topic through and
formulate my own thoughts and ideas I am able to write it down and express it pretty well on paper.
When it comes to being asked a question in class I draw a blank and have no idea what I feel about the
idea or topic we are talking about. I really enjoyed this whole course. There are so many different ways
that topics can be looked at through the eyes of Humanities. Out of it all I found the history behind
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everything the most enjoyable to learn about. I could see where specific thought processes came about
through the history then was put onto paper. By knowing that so many different thoughts and ideas
could come about through the thought process during a specific time period. In order to interact with
the people around me and be the best person I can be I will need to keep in mind that people think in
different ways and can get different things out of what I say. The challenges I faced in this assignment
was finding legitimate resources to support my claims. I know what I think and I had to find the
statements that made the most sense to my unique way of thinking. I feel as I wrote this paper I was
able to find small details and open it up in such a way that is different than how it might usually be
interpreted.
Jessica Glauser
Sources
Allen, Paul, and Jennifer Bauman. It Begins with Our Questions: A Thematic Introduction to the
Humanities. 1st ed. Michigan: Hayden McNeil, 2012. Print.
Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.google.com/imgres?q=preamble+of+the+us&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&
bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=c418KEWfT5EEqM:&imgrefurl=http://onlinesocialstudies.mpls.k12.m
n.us/preamble_to_the_constitution&docid=AmYFhH6PCUQrM&imgurl=http://onlinesocialstudies.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/l0768214238.jpg&w=
350&h=270&ei=H8i_UMLWCYWpiQKM_4CQBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=433&sig=11760931076
5865804075&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=182&start=0&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:92&tx=98
&ty=69>.Google image of the preamble
Gugliotta, Guy. "New Estimate Raises Civil War Death Toll." The New York Times. The New York Times,
03 Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Article on the number of deaths during the Civil War.
Mosbergen, Dominique. "Texas Secession Petition Racks Up More Than 80,000 Signatures, Qualifies For
White House Response." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 28
Nov. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/texas-secession-petition-qualifies-forwhite-house-response_n_2125159.html>.
Murphy, Tim. "Political MoJo." Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.
"Peacefully Grant the State of Texas to Withdraw from the United States of America and Create Its Own
NEW Government." We the People: Your Voice in Our Government. N.p., 09 Nov. 2012. Web. 28
Nov. 2012. <https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/peacefully-grant-state-texas-withdrawunited-states-america-and-create-its-own-new-government/BmdWCP8B>.
"Texas Secession Petition: Alabama, Florida and Georgia Also Reach Number of Signatures to Gain
Official White House Response for Withdrawal from the United States Union."Lawyer Harold.
Lawyer Harold, 03 Dec. 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012.