Most Likely To Secede?: Debating Independence in Vermont Classrooms

By Sydney Copp

Why debate secession in Vermont classrooms?

In this past year, my first as a middle school social studies teacher, I decided to attend a conference. As I perused the titles of the many workshops offered at the annual conference of the Vermont Alliance for the Social Studies (VASS), one in particular caught my eye.

“Vermont: Most Likely to Secede.”

Funny, and also quite true, I thought to myself. I decided it was worth missing the other workshops I had been contemplating. I doubt either the workshop on cemeteries or the one on geography would have had my blood pumping quite the way it did as I sat in on Rob Williams' presentation on the prospect of Vermont secession.

I was excited, intrigued, and I started to feel passionate about the kind of debate Vermont secession sparks.

I was not familiar with Vermont Commons or the Second Vermont Republic at the time, so much of what was presented to me was new information. I sat in the workshop and listened to the argument in favor of secession in Williams' words, as well as in the words of people such as Thomas Naylor in the “Independence Trilogy” video we screened.

Many questions ran through my mind: what about federal money for the state's infrastructure? How would other states react? What about military defense if the federal government or other states see secession as a threat? How would this affect international relations? How would the economy survive?

I wanted to ask some of these questions, but others beat me to it, and many of my concerns started to lessen as I heard Williams' thoughtful and researched answers. The idea started to sound more reasonable and even possible, yet people kept asking the skeptical questions. My heart was racing. It was so easy to ask these kinds of questions; to doubt that secession ever could or would happen.

Finally, I raised my hand. Regardless of my own opinion on whether Vermont secession is a good idea, I was tired of hearing the majority of the vocal group attacking the idea as something that could never happen. It is too easy to argue against secession. When I had the chance to share my opinions with the group, I expressed my concern that people are too quick to brush the idea aside as something that will never happen because there's too much to consider, too much about the idea that is uncertain.

I told the group that while I have the same kinds of concerns and questions, there is an opportunity here for us as educators if we decide to look at both sides of the debate. Yes, there are many arguments against secession, but refusing to go further and look at the idea from another perspective is simply closed-minded. As a group of educators who are attending a conference to gather new ideas in order to enrich our own classrooms, I believe it is our duty to not be egocentric; it is our duty to consider (and respect) the
perspectives of others and to teach our students to do the same.

The idea was particularly exciting to me as a teacher more so than as a citizen of the United States or a resident of Vermont because I saw secession as an opportunity for student engagement in the topics of civics and government. While I have my own strong opinions on political subjects, as a teacher I try to remain objective so that my students form their own opinions, regardless of whether or not I agree. For this reason, I try to teach as though my own opinion is irrelevant in the classroom. When I agree with an opinion raised by a student, I will argue the devil's advocate to try to get them thinking about other perspectives and possibilities. When I disagree, I will argue based on belief, but try to keep them guessing whether I am acting or truly arguing the point. What matters is that I bring my passion for debate and discussion, regardless of the topic or my beliefs. As a teacher, I saw how this prospect of secession could be used as a research and debate topic that has real life relevance to Vermont students.

Motivation

Student motivation might be the most challenging part of being an educator. If a student has no personal connection with a subject, it can be difficult to engage them in the learning process. I have found that this is particularly true when the subject is government or politics. There seems to be a mental block on politics that I think many people of all ages and backgrounds experience. Many high school and college students, as well as adults have little knowledge of the political process. If they do, the majority in this country certainly do not exercise the right to vote, as is evident in the voter turnout percentages. When I was teaching types of governments and how the federal government works, one of my students remarked that her parents didn't know most of the information we were studying.

Personally, I was always pretty lethargic about politics until I was given a reason to start caring. I felt so powerless in the whole scheme of things, and it was an overwhelming subject to me. Rich, white men dominate the scene, you have to have money, or know how to get it to be elected, and it all sounds so complicated and draining. But then the 2000 election happened while I was an undergraduate at Middlebury College. I couldn't believe it. The Electoral College overpowered the majority. What?! I had a reason to start caring about the political process. Even from my perspective, living a happy little Vermont college life, seemingly safe in the bubble, I was affected. Things didn't seem to be working as they ought to in a republic. How can the United States truly be a representative democracy if the majority vote for one person and the other guy wins anyway? It doesn't seem fair. Finally, politics started to matter to me, because the system seemed to be malfunctioning and that fact alone was unsettling enough to affect me.

How do we get students to debate Vermont secession?

The idea of Vermont seceding may seem, at first consideration, like something that could or should never happen. That is the immediate response I have gotten the majority of the time when I have casually mentioned the topic among friends or colleagues. Some of my students remarked that their parents thought debating secession was stupid. Although I do not doubt this was true, I never received a phone call from any parent on the topic. It is not my intent to persuade others that Vermont secession is a good idea because I don't know if it really is the best option for Vermonters. But, if the idea is ignored then we could be wasting a valuable opportunity for student engagement and involvement in government and politics. Whether you agree that Vermont should secede or not, it is a topic that has personal relevance to all Vermonters.

When students have a general knowledge of debate, persuasive writing and speaking, types of governments, and how the state and federal governments in the United States function, they are ready to start considering and debating Vermont secession. Government quickly becomes personally relevant to students when you say, what if you could create your own government… and guess what? There are many people who are seriously considering the idea of Vermont becoming its own independent republic again. This could affect you, as Vermonters! What do you think?

I have outlined the process of debating secession as I taught it in my middle school (grades 6-8) social studies classes this past year, but I think high school would be an ideal level at which to go through this process with students. (Rob: are you going to put the lesson outline and worksheets somewhere linked to the website? Could we put the url here? I would like people to be able to read the outline and student quotes, at least, if they are interested) After brainstorming ideas of what we need to consider if Vermont were to secede, we decided to focus on three main topics: Economy, Laws & Enforcement, and Defense. Another teacher might decide with his/her classes to use other topics to focus student research and arguments. My advice is to stick to the issues that students find personally relevant (immigration, for example, was also high on the list of things to consider). I found the entire process rewarding and worthwhile. When I turned on the camera to capture their arguments on the day of the debate, students took the idea seriously, and were engaged in a piece of the political process, whether they agreed with Vermont secession or not.