It is generally known that the United States of America started with 13 states and is now is composed of 50 different states. However, what is not widely known is that there were many proposals for new U.S. states that never came to fruition. Lack of popular support or the refusal of relevant government authorities to grant statehood contributed to the downfall of most of these proposals.
Here are a few of the proposals below:
Franklin
The period following the Revolutionary War was marked by a few shady land deals made as the America we know today took shape. One of those almost led to the founding of a state called Franklin in what is now eastern Tennessee. On August 23, 1784, the State of Franklin declared its independence from North Carolina. The independence would prove to be short-lived.
Deseret
A giant state proposed by the Church Of Latter Day Saints in 1849, Deseret would have contained parts of present day Utah, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years, but was never recognized by the United States government. The name derives from the word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon. The creation of Utah Territory in 1850 put an end to dreams of Deseret.
Superior
- In 1897, another proposal for creating a state of Superior included areas in the Upper Peninsula along with portions of Wisconsin.
- In 1959, following the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, Ironwood, Michigan resident Ted Albert sued for "divorce" between the two peninsulas.
- In 1962, an Upper Peninsula Independence Association was founded to advocate for the formation of a state of Superior. A secession bill was submitted to the Michigan Legislature, and 20,000 petition signatures were collected -- 36,000 short of the number needed for a ballot referendum on separation.
- Efforts continued into the mid-1970s and some support for statehood still exists in the region, although no organized movement was active as of 2012.
State of Lincoln
The State of Lincoln was proposed to consist of the Panhandle of Idaho and Eastern Washington (that is, east of the Cascade Mountains). It was first proposed by Idaho in 1865, when the capital was moved from Lewiston in December 1864 to its present-day location of Boise in January 1865.
Sequoyah
One of the most unique states that almost came to be was the State of Sequoyah. The State of Sequoyah, proposed to Congress in 1905, was to have been created out of the Oklahoma Territory as a State with a strong Native American majority. Covering a territory that corresponds roughly to the eastern half of today’s State of Oklahoma, the would-be state included land that had been allotted to Native Americans through a variety of treaties following the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
The State of Sequoyah was a proposed state to be established from the Indian Territory in the eastern part of present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal governments looming (as prescribed by the Curtis Act of 1898)-- Native Americans of the Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole—in Indian Territory proposed to create a state as a means to retain control of their lands. Their intention was to have a state under Native American constitution and governance. The proposed state was to be named in honor of Sequoyah, the Cherokee who created a writing system in 1825 for the Cherokee language.
President Theodore Roosevelt then proposed a compromise that would join Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory to form a single state and resulted in passage of the Oklahoma Enabling Act, which he signed June 16, 1906.[5][6] Oklahoma became the 46th state on November 16, 1907
Texlahoma
In 1935, in response to what proponents felt was lack of state attention to road infrastructure, A proposal was put forth that 46 northern Texas counties and 23 western Oklahoma counties secede to form a new, roughly rectangular state called Texlahoma.
Absaroka
Absaroka was a proposed state in the United States that would have comprised parts of the states of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming, which contemplated secession in 1939.
Jefferson
Unsurprisingly, there have been a quite few attempts to create a state named after Thomas Jefferson. This one encompassed counties in Oregon and California, which tried to break away in 1941. They made headlines when armed men stopped traffic on Route 99 to hand out their flyers, but the proposal lost all of its momentum a couple months later, when the attack on Pearl Harbor saw America enter the war.
Forgottonia
Smack in the middle of the country could have been a state called Forgottonia. Comprising geographic region that forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois and consists of 14 counties. Forgottonia was an idea created by a group of disgruntled citizens who felt, well, forgotten. In the early 1970s, the would-be state's residents proposed an interstate that would run from Chicago to Kansas City, but they were rebuffed and so decided to try to split off.
Yes - even Long Island!
From 2007 to 2009, Long Island residents discussed secession on the grounds that their tax money is not used to fund programs in their counties. Proposals were made for the entire island (Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties) and for just the two suburban counties (Nassau and Suffolk).
