Decentralization and Secession

Calhoun emphasized the principle that the states were sovereign and independent and not merely the creation of the federal government.

One type of secession active in 2025 is when one or more rural counties seek to secede from the current state to join a neighboring state.

Most modern Americans cannot conceive of states seceding from the US, but in 1860, the majority of the people believed secession was both legal and moral and saw the Constitution as permitting it. 

When one thinks of Jeffersonian Democrats, the founding of the US comes to mind. However, the Jeffersonian ideals were held well into the 1860s by people who believed that the states created the union, not the other way around.

Activists in Illinois and Indiana are talking about changing the state borders so separatist Illinois counties can join Indiana. As you'd expect, many politicians hate the idea.

The Southern secession from 1861-65 is portrayed as a “lost cause” by supporters and an act of evil by its detractors. Murray Rothbard argued that the Confederates were seeking freedom from political oppressors, just as their ancestors had done in the American Revolution.

Erick Brimen joins Bob to show how Próspera Honduras offers economic freedom and choice in regulatory treatment.

Gen. William T. Sherman‘s infamous “March to the Sea” is covered almost antiseptically in American history texts. Yet, Sherman‘s actions would have been judged as war crimes had he not been on the winning side.

President Donald Trump has openly called for the US to annex Greenland. However, Greenland‘s residents don‘t want to be part of the US empire. Unfortunately, this is another chapter in the sorry history of US acquisitions.

There is always the choice between the market principle and the hegemonic principle. There is no third way or middle ground between the two, often presented as a “mixed economy.”