American Secessionists Are Rooting for an Independent Scotland

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/what-three-u-s-secessionist-groups-think-about-the-scottish-independence-movement-20140911

Scotland has sought independence from the United Kingdom for a long time, and now citizens will hold a referendum poll next week. The poll will allow citizens to vote on the secession issue. American secession groups see this as a chance to promote their movements. Some of these groups were interviewed for the article: the Second Vermont Republic, Cascadia, and the League of the South. Although these groups are far from accomplishing their individual goals of secession from the United States, they feel that a "peaceful and democratic" secession in Scotland will be a positive thing for all of their groups. The president of the League of the South group (claiming over 25,000 members) says that if Scotland receives its independence then it will be "a brick out of the wall of centralization and the old idea of empire-building". The leaders of these groups don't care what kind of new government Scotland will establish if it does secede, they will just be happy that they gained their independence.

I found this article interesting because it dealt with a certain nation breaking away from a higher power, while it also linked this to groups in the United States. Obviously the groups that were discussed in the article aren't about to secede from the United States, but they believe that they have some sort of cause. The Civil War established that the states don't have the right to declare themselves independent from the national government, and so extremist groups would not be able to achieve this. The rest of the country would not be happy with say a sovereign state of Vermont. In Scotland, however, the country is a separate nation and is already divided politically. It even has its own Scottish Parliament which holds some power, yet the United Kingdom still holds ultimate authority over some things. Secession is a little different from the Civil War in the case that they aren't really rebelling, and if the vote goes through it will not lead to war. Separating themselves from the United Kingdom could lead to many other issues, but there is legitimacy to this proposal of ultimate independence, and if they can gain support through the referendum process then they will become independent. Either way, Scotland will decide through polls on Thursday and at this point it is hard to say which side is truly at the advantage. Even if the vote ends up keeping Scotland part of the UK, the Scottish Parliament is bound to gain more independence.

Unit 2