The city of South Miami commissioners have approved a resolution to split Florida in half. The new state would consist of 24 counties, take up 23,000 square miles (about 40% of Florida now) and house 13.4 million people (two thirds of the present population). The reason for such an extreme measure is because South Florida sits five-feet above sea level and the eminent threat of rising sea levels "...are expected to rise 3 to 6 feet over the next century." North Florida, on the other hand, sits 120 feet above sea level and the capital rarely deals with the southern land's issues pertaining to global warming. Commissioners are now sending copies of the resolution to the 24 counties and their cities. Both Florida voters and Congress would have to approve the resolution for the state to split.
The article was written on October 22, 2014 by Javier de Diego. The purpose of the article was to directly inform the American general public on what occurred, why did it occur and what should happen if South Florida wants to pass the resolution. South Florida's want to secede reminded me of the Hartford Convention, when the New England Federalists gathered in Connecticut to discuss their grievances concerning the War of 1812. The Federalists cries for secession and peace were cut off at the end and after the victory of New Orleans by Andrew Jackson the party dispersed and was eliminated. The voices of the South Florida commissioners hopefully won't be silenced as previously mentioned, but the threat for secession made by previous states has, for the most part, been unsuccessful unless in large numbers like the Civil War or through brute force such as Texas' secession from Mexico. Secession is not an easy process and will, in my opinion, not come to fruition.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/south-florida-secession-new-state/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
I agree, I doubt that this will come to fruition; however, I think it as an interesting prospect.
ReplyDelete-Vivie Behrens (period 6)