Internet Petition Calls on Obama to Allow Texas to Secede

Several petitions on the White House's website are calling for various states to secede from the Union -- including one for Texas with more than 57,000 signatures.

The petition asking President Barack Obama's administration to peacefully allow Texas to withdraw from the United States, and says the federal government is ruining the economy and abusing the rights of Americans.

The petition says Texas could serve its citizens better on its own and says it is "practically feasible for Texas" to withdraw.

The petition says it was created by a Micah H. of Arlington on Nov. 9. More than 57,000 people listing locations across the country had signed the petition as of late Monday night, far more signatures than any of the similar petitions for other states.

White House staff will review the petition and issue an official response because of the number of signatures. The White House responds to submitted petitions that reach 25,000 signatures in 30 days.

Legally, Texas cannot secede from the United States.

As the Texas State Library and Archives Commission states on its website: "In fact, Texas received no special terms in its admission to the Union. Once Texas had agreed to join the Union, she never had the legal option of leaving, either before or after the Civil War."

While many believe that an annexation treaty gave Texas the right to secede from the United States, Texas actually was admitted into the Union by a joint resolution of Congress, not by treaty. And no such provision is included in that joint resolution or in the 1845 Constitution of the State of Texas.

The U.S. Supreme Court has even answered the question of whether states can decide on their own to secede.

In Texas vs. White, the court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not allow states to decide to secede from the nation. That same ruling also said that Texas had "entered into an indissoluble relation" with the United States when it became a state and remained a state even when it joined the Confederate States of America.

Gov. Rick Perry in 2009 made comments implying that Texas could secede, but later said that he was not advocating secession.

Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier issued a statement Monday about the petition on the White House website that says the governor "believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it."

The statement said that Perry also shares the frustrations that many have with the federal government.

"Now more than ever, our country needs strong leadership from states like Texas that are making tough decisions to live within their means, keep taxes low and provide opportunities to job creators so their citizens can provide for their families and prosper," the statement said. "We cannot allow Washington's tax-and-spend, one-size-fits-all mindset to jeopardize our children's future, undermine our personal liberties and drive our nation down a dangerous path to greater dependence of government."

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