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Today, the United States has 50 states. The last two to join were the first non-contiguous states
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Alaska and Hawaii, both joining the Union in 1959. But throughout history, there have been
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various other states that have either existed and then disappeared, or states that were proposed and
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then abandoned. Even today, some state creation proposals exist, such as the crazy idea to split
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California into six different states. If you want, I can make a dedicated video about these
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All of these stories led me to ask myself the question, what if the US had more states? In this
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video, we're going to go through around 10 proposals that are either recent or still
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significant today for the creation of new states in the United States of America
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First, the state of Jefferson in the Pacific Coast. This proposed state would span across
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the mostly rural areas of southern Oregon and northern California and the proposal was first
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made in 1941. It even has a proposed flag in green and gold, not very creative but then again most
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US state flags are not. The two X's are known as the double cross and signify the two regions
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sense of abandonment by the two central state governments. The name Jefferson was first used
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in 1859 for the Jefferson Territory, but this was far away, in between Utah and Kansas, as well as
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being used in 1915 when Texas' legislator put forth a bill for the creation of a new state in part of
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their territory, also taking this name. I'm not sure about these two examples, but when it comes
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to the hypothetical Pacific state, it certainly comes from Thomas Jefferson, former US President
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Because in 1803, Jefferson is said to have envisioned the establishment of an independent nation in the western portion of North America that he named the Republic of the Pacific
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The justification for its creation is that the population of these areas does not have a significant connection and does have a significant difference to the rest of the population of California and Oregon
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The movement was stopped due to the US's entry in World War II being revived in around 1990
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and picking up a little more steam recently, especially because of electoral results
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which have led some people in the Republican Party to advocate for it
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given that they would likely win their representation and gain two additional senators
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To the Northeast, there could be the state of Absaroka. Absaroka would comprise parts of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming
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I'm not sure where they got the name, but instead of taking the territorial reorganization
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change to have some more adequate borders, they still went with the ridiculous straight
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lines that characterize most of the US states, something I think is only seen in Africa with
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European drawn borders. In 1935, still dealing with the effects of the Great Depression, a movement for secession
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began to protest against these states' governments. Their flag was this one, a white field with a red triangle with a number 49
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as they claimed their place as the 49th state. Their point was that the three states had failed to provide federal aid from the New Deal
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to rural ranchers and farmers. It's interesting to see how the difference and sense of abandonment by rural regions
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led to the idea of these first two states and is something that kind of continues up to today
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The movement's leader declared himself governor, which I would say delegitimizes it from the start
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However, they did apparently get a lot of media coverage at the time, which led the actual state governments to act and achieve a broader distribution of New Deal aid World War II beginning also led to the end of the movement Native American land control is a topic of its own
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I even made a video about what the U.S. would look like if all treaties had been respected
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but even with the modern reality of territorial organization, two separate native-controlled states have been proposed, Sequoia and Navajo
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The state of Sequoia was a proposed state to be established from the Indian territory
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in the eastern part of present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal government
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the so-called five civilized tribes, the Cherokee, the Choctaw, the Chicasaw, the Creek
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and the Seminole, proposed to create a state as a means to retain control of their land
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Their intention was to have a state under Native American governance while remaining in the U.S.
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a very logical and fair compromise on their part. The name was chosen after a Cherokee person who
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was said to have created their writing system in 1825 for their native language
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And this one was done right. They held a convention, drafted a state constitution, drew up a plan of organization for the government
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put together a map showing the counties to be established, and elected delegates to go
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to the US Congress with a petition for statehood, along with two Democrats and two Republicans
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who were to serve as congressmen, even holding a referendum to approve their mandate for
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this negotiation. However, President Theodore Roosevelt did not accept their request and offered instead that their territory should join the Oklahoma Territory and become a state together, joining the Union as the 46th state
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Although they didn't get what they wanted, the drafted constitution made an important contribution to Oklahoma's constitution, and Oklahoma today is still a place where Native Americans have a relevant place
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Navajo is another example of a potential native state. The Navajo Nation still exists today and occupies portions of northeastern Arizona
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northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. They have their own flag, but they are not their own state
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It would, however, make sense if they were. It is the largest land area held by a Native American tribe in the U.S
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and has actually expanded since the reservation was established in 1868. I don't believe they have ever made an attempt for statehood
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but considering the land is inhabited mostly by Navajo people, it would definitely make sense
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Moving to the west coast, we have another potential new state. It's interesting how
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some of these are thought of as entirely new territories based on geographical or natural
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divisions or ethnic differences, while others are proposed divisions or partitions of existing
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states. South Georgia is an example of the latter. This is tremendously specific to a single example
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In 2018, the Republican party of Pierce County in Georgia held their local primary election
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Along with their choice of candidate, they also put forth a question regarding wanting
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all the countries south of Makon to join together and form the 51st state of South Georgia
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Only 27% of their voters agreed and so the idea was rightfully abandoned
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The reason why they wanted to do it is similar to the first two examples we saw
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They stated they feel that rural areas have been abandoned and being left behind from Georgia's
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supposed rapid economic growth. Most people didn't seem to actually believe in it and it was more of
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a way of getting attention for their local problems. One that makes perfect sense when it
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comes to geography is the proposed state of Superior. The state of Superior would be created
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by the secession of the Upper Peninsula from the rest of Michigan, named for the adjacent Lake
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Superior The proposal claims that in addition to the geographic separation there are significant cultural differences as well as the belief that the problems of the superior region are ignored by distant state governments When the Northwest Territory was being organized by the US government
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Thomas Jefferson had actually proposed a state which he named Sylvania. We can see it in this
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map here. They also claimed the territory wasn't initially meant to be a part of Michigan and was
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only granted to them as a settlement in the Toledo dispute against Ohio. Their main activities are
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forestry and mining, differing from the rest of the state's agricultural and industrial sectors
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Travel between the two peninsulas is difficult, especially during the winter, they have to go
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across an entire other state to get there. The first efforts to secede date back as far as 1858
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There's even a New York Times article that states, unless Congress should interpose objections
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which cannot reasonably be apprehended, we see no cause why the new state of Antonagon
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the chosen name at the time, should not speedily take her place as an independent member of the
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union. Congress did object, however, and despite renewed efforts in 1897, 1959, 1962, and 1970
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the state was never created, with the movement eventually dying out by 2012
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Another partitioned state could be West Kansas. I believe their example is in fact quite similar
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to South Georgia. The idea was created by a short-lived secessionist movement in the 1990s
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whose creation was a direct reaction to a 1992 school finance law that disadvantaged rural schools
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again, rural versus urban issues. The proposed state would have consisted of nine counties from southwestern Kansas
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The movement held unofficial polls in each of these nine counties, two of which were even territorially separated from the other seven
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and the results pointed to favor the secession. They held a convention, chose to be called West Kansas, chose a state flower, the yucca
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an estate bird, the pheasant, but then they never actually moved forward with the bureaucratic
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requirements of requesting the secession, even though it would probably be failed, but the
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movement then faded out after a couple of years. Two more are West New York as well as Long Island
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Various proposals have been made to separate New York into various states, most of which involve
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the separation of New York City itself from the rest of the state, due to the vastly different
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realities between them. New York is an interesting example because historically one of its territories
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did manage to secede and become its own state, Vermont, in 1777. Some people in western New York
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have at times attempted to repeat Vermont's example. Their argument is partly historical
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claiming the two regions were colonized and settled separately, only coming together in 1796
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through the Treaty of Hartford. The other part of the argument has to do with taxes, economic decline
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population differences, and what they argue is unfair representation in the state legislator
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I believe in part due to the region's low population density when compared to New York City
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Long Island has also seen some claims for secession, namely by local politicians
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which state that the region contributes much more to state taxes than it receives in payments
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There was some activity about this in 2010, but the idea was never truly pursued
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Speaking of New York, there's also a proposed state of liberty, although it's nowhere near New York
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Local politicians in Washington, namely some state representatives, introduced legislation that would lead to the separation of the state of Washington into two
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Washington would remain in the West and liberty would become a new state in the East With a new border being created along the edge of the Cascade Mountain Range The movement is I believe very much linked with local conservatives that don like the state liberal tendencies
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They have a proposed flag depicting what I believe to be an eagle. On top of it are three stars, and the eagle is holding a sword and broken handcuffs
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probably to symbolize their liberation from Washington. However, to stop this and any other state separation ideas
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Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States includes a provision that
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no new state shall be formed within the jurisdiction of any other state
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So they would have to amend the Constitution to allow this. And finally, putting aside speculation, we have the two most likely expansions of US statehood
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Washington DC and Puerto Rico. In 2016, 85% of DC voters agreed to become their own state, choosing the name State of Columbia
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In 2020, the United States House of Representatives voted 232 to 180 in favor of statehood for
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Washington DC, with the Senate then failing the bill. They have more people than many states of the US, and they argue they are being taxed
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and ruled without representation. I believe sooner or later they will become a state of their own
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Puerto Rico has been under US sovereignty for over a century after it was ceded to the
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US by Spain following the end of the Spanish-American War, and Puerto Ricans have been US citizens
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since 1917. However, they're still not a state. They've had many votes, with the latest non-binding
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one in 2020, where 52% favored statehood. Since 1898, Puerto Rico has had limited representation
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in the US Congress in the form of a resident commissioner, a non-voting delegate. Nevertheless
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they pushed a bill to ratify statehood by 2025. In 2022, the House of Representatives approved a
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bill that would establish a binding referendum, which Congress would then have to obey. But again
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the Senate didn't let it pass. I think after DC, this is the most likely 51st or 52nd state
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So, those are some of the potential new states of the US. Since 1949 that the union has not
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expanded, so I would say it's about time they do so. Territorial growth seems out of the question
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going to war to annex territory is likely a thing of the past, and so if the US are to gain more
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states, it has to be either through territorial reorganization, taking away land from existing
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states to create new smaller ones, or by upgrading if you will, other territories they have
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these are I would say the most likely to happen. Washington D.C., the country's capital, has long wanted and in my opinion deserved to
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be its own state, Puerto Rico likewise, and if Puerto Rico should join, that might pave
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the way for other territories of the U.S. to achieve statehood too, such as Guam
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When it comes to the territorial reorganization option, we have the cases of natural and geographical
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divisions being taken into account, such as the case of the state of Superior separating
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this part of Michigan due to it being physically separated by the lake, or this part of Washington
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becoming liberty due to the mountain range that sort of divides the current state, although
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as we see there are some ideological reasons too, or the case of ethnic groups, namely
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Native Americans, recovering some of their due sovereignty through a state of their own
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as we see in Navajo or Sequoia. What do you think? Are any of these possible? Do they make sense
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and would you like to see them happen? Also, which other states could have existed in the past
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or still have a chance of existing in the future? Let me know in the comments
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Thanks so much for watching this video, subscribe if you want, and I will see you next time for more general knowledge
