The New England Secession Tradition: Part II

By Donald Livingston

This quarter, we present the second installment of Professor Livingston's three-part series discussing the roots of a tradition strongly present in New England from the outset – the drive for independence and, if it came to it, secession. Readers can find Part I in the Spring 2007 issue of Vermont Commons, or on the web.

From the ratification of the Constitution in 1789 up to 1860, secession was openly considered throughout the Union as an option available to an American state. The first section to mount a serious secession movement was New England, from 1804 to1814. The public knows little about this movement, and the few historians who have written about it have viewed it with some embarrassment as an unpatriotic act.

“Our Hope Is Disunion: Cutting to the Root of the Matter”

EDITORIAL by Ian Baldwin, Publisher

Recently I read a speech that cuts into the meat of our day, here at the American table:

“Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war… So far we may have killed a million of them, mostly children… What do they think as we test out our latest weapons on them…? We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village. We have destroyed their land and their crops… Now there is little left to build on, save bitterness… We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know . . . that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved… I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours… If we do not stop our war against [them] immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands . . . we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure….I am convinced…we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift . . . to a person-oriented society . . . [or] the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

Taking back our money
Editor, Vermont Commons:
Those of us involved in barter, local currency, time banks (service trading) or any alternatives to U.S. dollars are money activists, whether acknowledged or not.
Activists at the national level would say that the fractional reserve system of our private banking system is what put us in this endless spiral of debt/inflation, leading to greater divisions of wealth, and ultimately, an unsustainable world situation.

Vermont Vox Populi: An Interview with Marion Leonard

Editor's Note: I have been corresponding with Rochester, Vermont's Marion Leonard for several years. The 98-year-old citizen activist and educator, who founded an environmental nonprofit called “Save Our World,” is the oldest supporter of Vermont independence anywhere (to our knowledge). When we learned that she was celebrating her 98th birthday this past May, we felt she'd be the perfect candidate for this issue's “Vermont Vox Populi” column. Happy birthday, Marion, and thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom with us.

America's Descent Into Fascism

By Glenn M. Cahilly

Contemporary polls show the majority of Americans finally agree that the presidency of George W. Bush can be called “the worst in U.S. history.” It is by far the most anti-democratic and, for the individual, the most troubling, disruptive, and dangerous. Its disdain for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the nation's standing in the world is molding a legacy of horrors and complexities that will challenge generations to come.
In 1982, Leonard Peikof claimed in The Ominous Parallels that the social philosophy that gave rise to Nazi Germany was similar to that taking hold in the United States. Though the claim was declared arguable and absurd, it was supported by the sudden prominence of the far right in American politics and particularly Christian fundamentalist and theocracy advocate Pat Robertson's run for the presidency in 1988. Little more than a decade later, the Bush-Cheney administration's power-seeking and -wielding machinations made undeniable the nation's vulnerability to totalitarianism.

A Declaration of Cultural Independence

By Craig Byrne

In Chelsea, Vermont we have two commons, North and South. Each mixes the old and the new. Our North Common is bounded by the church, Chelsea's twin stores, and a mix of stately and not-so stately homes. It also hosts our burgeoning farmer's market every Wednesday in the summer. Our South Common is home to the county courthouse, another mix of houses, Chelsea's public school, and the Wellspring Waldorf School, where two of my three kids are enrolled (the third is more of a mascot, at nearly age 3).

The Waldorf educational philosophy, developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, is nicely summed up for me in the title of a lecture given to the Chelsea community recently by Eugene Schwartz, a Waldorf teacher and consultant: “No Childhood Left Behind.” Mr. Schwartz' play on words speaks to the Waldorf belief and concern that children need time to come into the world, to unfold, and that to rush this process deprives children of a necessary process needed to thoroughly master and integrate their “heads, hearts and hands” and enter adulthood fully awake and engaged in life.

“You solemnly swear or affirm that whenever you give your vote or
suffrage, touching any matter that concerns the state of Vermont, you
will do it so as in your conscience you shall judge will most conduce
to the best good of the same, as established by the Constitution,
without fear or favor of any person.”

The Vermont Freeman's Oath

From Little Acorns: The American Secession Movement Today

By Kirkpatrick Sale

Here's a simple truth. For those who can't stand the increasingly ugly and corrupt U.S. empire but don't want to leave the home and place they love, the only possible solution – we have to face it – is secession. And that's just what more and more citizens are thinking about these days.

The latest evidence for the appeal of the secessionist alternative comes from a just-released poll taken by the University of Vermont in February of this year that found that 13 per cent of the state's residents came right out and said “it would be a good idea for Vermont to secede from the United States and become once again an independent republic as it was from 1777 to 1791.” Thirteen percent. That may not seem a lot at first, but it translates to 64,400 people of voting age in the population at large.

Meet the Greenneck

By the folks at www.wickedoutdoorsy.com

The Greenneck has solar panels on his roof and a 454 big block in his Chevy. He recognizes the contradiction. He just doesn't care.

The Greenneck thinks the chainsaw is probably the finest expression of internal combustion on the face of the earth.

The Greenneck considers himself a Bernie supporter. So pugnacious, so pragmatic, such obvious disdain for hair care products. These are qualities the Greenneck can identify with.

But Bernie seems confused of late. So confused, he's calling for a windfall profits tax on big oil and the return of $2 gas. Let's be clear: The Greenneck feels the pinch of $3 gas, and he feels for his fellow Vermonters, many of whom can afford it even less than he. And he can hardly comprehend the quantity of money that's falling into Big Oils' pockets. All those zeros.