Out of all the current states in the Union, which would region you imagine giving rise to the 51st? The hyper-liberal West Coast? The huge northeast cities that want to run their own show? The historically secessionist South? Or how about… none of the above?
Enter Colorado, where five out of eleven counties recently voted in favor of the 51st State Initiative, a call for secession from the state. Their intended name, “North Colorado”, does have a certain ring to it, even though the proposal to form this new state did not survive the ballots.
Additionally, even if public voters passed the proposal, the state legislature and Congress would still have to approve it. Considering the last successful state-secession bid was in 1820, when Maine broke away from Massachusetts, the proposal will most likely successfully pass, which leaves the idyllic vision of an independent North Colorado as just that- an idyllic, insubstantial dream.
But these five counties in northern Colorado- Cheyenne, Kit Carson, Phillips, Washington, and Yuma- did not vote with the serious intention to break away from their state. Their major complaint was basically that they thought the Democratic lawmakers in the urban state capital did not accurately reflect their rural, small-town ideals. They opposed many new state policies on gun control and environmental conservation but felt their voices and opinions were not being heard. The mostly conservative, tight-knit communities of northern Colorado have felt more and more alienated as the Democrat-controlled legislature in Denver passed bills that they did not agree with but were too underrepresented in the legislature to defy. This growing sense of isolation culminated in an initiative to break away and form their own state.
In reality though, Colorado’s 51st State Initiative was just a way for these few counties to grab the attention of Denver lawmakers and make their discontent fully known. Advocate Jeffrey Hare puts it clearly: “The heart of the 51st State Initiative is simple: We just want to be left alone to live our lives without heavy-handed restrictions from the state Capitol.”
The Coloradans in favor of breaking away aren’t really diehard, extreme secessionists. They are merely a group of conservative small-town citizens that felt their quiet complaints and protests against state policy were no longer enough. But whether taking the radical approach and voting to break away completely was a better idea is still up for debate.
