The Great State of Nickajack
My new favorite website is, appropriately enough for a gleeful pessimist, Failure.com. I especially like their tagline: "Failure: it's an option."
In a recent post, Michael Trinklein tells the story of some United States that never quite made the cut. Like Nickajack:
This Civil War era movement was an attempt to create a pro Union state in the middle of the Confederacy. The idea had considerable support because many subsistence farmers living in the Appalachians had little interest in a fight they considered “a rich man’s war.” Nickajack ultimately fell by the wayside, but a parallel movement did lead to the creation of West Virginia.
I would have liked to visit Nickajack. And Nataqua and Franklin and Muskogee. It's not like we're done with this issue, either. Just this year, there was a proposal to divide Maine into two states. (There's even a Facebook page for the movement.) And people have been suggesting carving up California for years and years. Personally, I'm all in favor. Especially if one of the states ends up being called Nickajack.
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May '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
Interesting that the Maine portion of the proposed division would have a lot of territory but the aggragate population of a medium size city. However it would enjoy the world's best potatoes and a potentially vibrant wood product industry. if they could just find a commercial use for black flies.........wow!
I don't think we really need to go through the hassle of dividing up more states. At the rate that productive people are leaving failing states for more hospitable ones, we are accomplishing the same thing without the legal and political hassles. Once California goes belly up, folks can move back and buy up assets for pennies on the dollar & change the name to..........Nickajack.
Jun '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
Rob, welcome to my classroom. I use this very technique to teach world geography. Instead of dividing the world into nation-states, which are often rather arbitrary, I have my kids divide the world into cultural regions. Latin America, for example, has six distinct cultural regions based on language, religion, race, government and economy. Plus some interesting anomalous zones.
I've never tried this technique using the US, but it would certainly be an interesting academic exercise. I would start by offering up Delmarva as one such division: Delaware, Maryland eastern shore, and a dash of tidewater Virginia.
May '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
~Paules:
If you can find a copy of the book, The Nine Nations of North America, I recommend it. The author, Joel Garreau, does the same exercise that you suggest. It fun reading and still quite valid 30 years on.
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
How about we combine New York and California into one "cultural zone?" Call it "Broke-istan?"
May '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
These kind of map games are so fun. All the rewards of playing Risk, without the, uh, risk.
Off and on there has been a micro-movement here in Michigan to create a new state called "Superior" (or possibly "Ontonagon") that would consist of the upper peninsula of Michigan plus parts of Wisconsin and possibly Minnesota that bordered on Lake Superior. The resulting state would have had a tiny population and not much economic base, now that the copper mines have shut down. That, plus the fact that it would have needed three different existing states to sign off on giving away territory, meant the idea was doomed.
Folks from Michigan are also still angry about the "Toledo War" in which land was taken from the territory of Michigan and given to the state of Ohio to guarantee that Toledo, which was destined to become an economic powerhouse and dominate the entire region (!) would be within Ohio's borders. Ohio had the votes in congress and Michigan did not, so Ohio won. It resulted in a real war with militias deployed a few shots fired. Michigan was eventually given land in the upper peninsula as a consolation prize.
May '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
And what would be the state motto of this new electoral powerhouse?
"Nickajack, paddywhack, Give a dog a bone..."
May '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
At this link http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2010/02/how-to-split-up-the-us.html, the author searched for patterns in over 210 public profiles on Facebook. He identified regional clusters based on friendship connections and common properties. It's interesting how his study turned out.
May '10
Re: The Great State of Nickajack
EJHill: And what would be the state motto of this new electoral powerhouse?
"Nickajack, paddywhack, Give a dog a bone..." · Aug 5 at 10:24am
Simply brilliant! I wish I'd come up with one myself. I just shot my ice tea out of my nose!