There’s one state in the US that likes to
brag about how independent they are. Saying that they have a provision in their
constitution that says they can leave the union whenever they like… or that they can
fly their flag at the same height as the US flag because they’re the only state that
used to be an independent republic. If you haven’t figured out which state I’m
talking about, it’s Texas. Because of course it’s Texas. But none of those statements are actually
true. In case you missed it, this is somewhat of
a followup to my American Empire video a few weeks ago, so if you haven’t already, give
that a quick watch. Don’t worry, I’ll still be here when you
get back. But before I talk about Texas, it’s worth
mentioning that not only is Texas not the only former independent republic to join the
United States, but it’s also not even the first. Quick, name the original thirteen colonies! Okay obviously I can’t hear you, this isn’t
Dora the Explorer… so you can stop now. If you’re an international viewer, or an
average American, you were probably going to get it wrong anyway. Let’s name them all together, shall we? If you didn’t already know, the US flag
has 13 stripes to pay homage to the original 13 colonies. Let’s start at the bottom and work out way
up. Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire. Notice anything missing here? I’d give you a second but I don’t want
this to be another twenty minute long video so… Vermont. Vermont isn’t on the list. Vermont was not one of the original thirteen
colonies. After the United States declared independence
in 1776, Vermont broke away from Quebec and formed the Republic of Vermont, which fought
alongside the United States as an independent republic. They also got land from the neighboring states
of New York and New Hampshire because it was assumed that it would eventually join the
union. But since there was no Constitution until
1789, there was no statehood process… so it governed itself as an independent country
for 12 years. Everything about Vermont indicated that it
couldn’t wait to be part of the United States. It’s motto, Stella Quarta Decima, means
the fourteenth star and its great seal had a 14 branched tree. So finally, in 1791, it became the fourteenth
state – and the first state to actually join the United States. After the US gained independence from Great
Britain in 1783, it was also given the large area known as the Northwest Territory. Under British control, the area was going
to become what they called an “Indian Barrier State.” Or rather, a place to put all of the soon-to-be
displaced Native Americans from the east coast. When the United States took over, that plan
was still floating out there in the ether… but as more and more white settlers began
moving to the region, the proposed area set aside for the Native Tribes, also known as
Indiana, got smaller and smaller. In the War of 1812, many Native American tribes
fought alongside the British, because the British promised to reinstate the plan to
establish Indiana as a buffer state. Unfortunately for them the British lost and
in 1816 Indiana became a regular old state. However, as part of the peace treaty, the
British made America provide Native Americans with their own independent lands, which is
the beginning of the reservation system. Unfortunately, part of that deal did not include
where these lands had to be. At this point, the US had acquired the Louisiana
Territory as part of the purchase I discussed in the last video. So they picked pretty much the most inhospitable
tract of land they could, Oklahoma, and in 1830 signed the Indian Removal Act. Which didn’t actually mandate the removal
of Native Americans from the Southeastern US… but pretty much yeah, mandated that
the tribes be relocated. You’ve probably, hopefully, heard of the
Trail of Tears in 1838, which was when the Cherokee were forcefully moved from Georgia
to what was then called the Indian Territory. And when I say forcefully moved, I don’t
mean deported and put on a plane. I mean they had to walk the 1000 miles on
foot, where 20% of them died along the way. Not exactly the United States’ proudest
moment. Indian Territory was never going to be an
independent country, but it was going to be an autonomous region of the US. Much like reservations today. Part of the United States but like, not really,
but… yeah, totally part of the United States. All of that ended though when Oklahoma, despite
being smack in the middle of the country, became one of the last states to join the
union in 1907. Surprisingly, despite the original plan, almost
none of present-day Oklahoma is reservation… So try to figure that one out. But let’s get a little less depressing and
a little more south and talk about Texas again. Texas was originally a state belonging to
Mexico. By the way, the official name of Mexico is
the United States of Mexico (United Mexican States depending on translation). Structurally, it’s pretty much identical
to the United States of America. But anyway, the area that became Texas was
heavily settled and colonized by Americans... so much so that Mexico banned American immigration
in 1830. This didn’t make the American settlers very
happy, so in 1836, Texas fought for its independence from Mexico. Have you ever heard the rallying cry “Remember
the Alamo?” It’s one of those famous sayings from American
history. Which is odd, because it wasn’t American. The battle of the Alamo was part of the Texas
Revolution. And it’s not like it’s kind of sort of
American history, because when Texas kind of sort of won its independence and petitioned
for annexation, the United States didn’t want it. Possibly because they didn’t want to start
a war with Mexico… yet. So Texas governed itself as an independent
republic, recognized by the United States, but not recognized by Mexico. It extended all the way up into present-day
Wyoming. Citizens of the Republic of Texas were called
Texians, or Texicans… or my personal favorite, Texilingans. Just let that one sit on your tongue for a
minute. I swear, I couldn’t make that up if I tried. They didn’t settle on the term Texan until
it became a state, in 1846. Texas was by far the largest state to join
the union at the time, so there was a plan to break it up into smaller parts. But that was abandoned because that would
create too many slave states and outnumber the free states, which would wildly upset
the balance set up by the Missouri Compromise. So while there is no provision in the Texas
state constitution allowing it to secede whenever it wants, there IS a provision allowing it
to break up into five smaller states whenever it wants. That’s pretty unlikely, but… it is there. CGP Grey did a video a few years ago about
the intricate details of Texas seceding, link down below, but spoiler alert, it can’t. The other myth, that it’s the only state
allowed to fly its flag at the same height as the United States flag is also just a myth. The US Flag Code states that the US flag must
always be higher than any state flag, it doesn’t make an exception for Texas or any other state. Texas law also doesn’t say anything like
that. BUT, if you’re that convinced that the US
and Texas flag should be at the same height, on different flag poles, the US flag should
be to the flag’s right, or observer’s left. Which is the military position of honor. If you have a bunch of flags the US flag should
be at the center, center right if there are an even number. I don’t know why you needed to know all
of that… but now you know. *The more you know*
Anyway, Texas joined the United States in 1846, at the start of the Mexican-American
War. Which was actually much more about California
than it was about Texas. Alta California was a state in the United
States of Mexico; if you’ve ever wondered why there is a Baja California in Mexico and
you don’t speak Spanish, that’s because Alta means high, and Baja means low. So High and Low California… kind of like
North and South Carolina… Anyway, that doesn’t matter. California declared its independence from
Mexico on June 14, 1846 and formed the New California Republic. Okay if you didn’t see that coming you obviously
don’t watch my channel very often. The republic lasted a whole 25 days before
it was annexed by the United States. It was around this time that America was all
about dat Manifest Destiny, and they really wanted territory on the Pacific Coast. California, like Texas, was full of white
American settlers, so they weren’t really opposed to the idea of annexation. When America won the Mexican American War
in 1848, an area the size of the Louisiana Purchase was ceded, including California,
Texas, and everything else north of the Rio Grande River. That same year, gold was discovered in California,
but it took a year for everyone in the east to hear about it – so the huge wave of migrants
during the Gold Rush are called the 49’ers. And now you know why the football team is
named that. California became a state shortly after that
in 1850. But we weren’t done getting land from Mexico. A few years later we bought a little piece
of land in modern day Arizona and New Mexico in order to build the first transcontinental
railroad, but that plan got derailed in 1864 for some reason. I actually made a video about that a while
back too if you’re interested. But California wasn’t the only former republic
to be annexed. During the Spanish-American war in 1898, which
I also talked about in a previous video, the United States really needed a friendly harbor
somewhere in the Pacific Ocean in order to help with their invasions of Guam and the
Philippines. So they annexed the Republic of Hawaii. *South Park Clip* No… nobody calls it that. It’s actually kind of depressing how accurate
that episode was …. I grew up in Hawaii… I’m not a native. But because of that I know Hawaiian history
ad nauseum. Ready?! Be more excited please. The Hawaiian Islands were … re-discovered
by Captain James Cook in 1779. The same James Cook that I talked about in
my Ant- Okay you know what, just assume I’ve touched on all of these topics before and
go watch my previous videos. Just like Native Americans, Hawaiians like
to look back on their history as if it were ultra peaceful. Sorry, but Native Hawaiians were people too. The British didn’t like having to trade
and deal with so many small islands and chiefs, so they helped Kamehameha *Kamehameha* unite
five of the islands in a war that took fifteen years, ending in 1795; the other two islands
joined peacefully in 1810, thus creating the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was super brutal and slaughtered hundreds
of men. Remember that famous cliff scene from 300
that I’m not going to show you because of copyright? Yeah, that actually happened (Battle of Nuuanu). At spear-point, Kamehameha’s army drove
over 400 people off of the cliff at the modern-day Pali Lookout. Anyway, being smack in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean, Hawaii was a prime trading and military location. Many countries were looking at taking it over,
but its distance from everywhere made it almost impossible to claim. Perhaps predictively, the United States became
its primary trading partner. But because of Kamehameha’s affinity to
the British, they made this the flag – with the union jack in the corner as if it were
part of the British Empire or Commonwealth. It never was; the British never recognized
it or claimed it as part of the empire. It was kind of like putting a fake ring on
it so when the United States came perving around Hawaii could say they were already
spoken for… but they totally weren’t spoken for. A few decades later the flag was changed to
this and has stayed the same ever since. Hawaii primarily grew sugar because of its
tropical climate. And just like Texas and California, it didn’t
take long before white settlers were the primary business owners and wealthiest people in the
kingdom. Over the decades the Kings and Queens slowly
gave up power in favor of a constitution and a more parliamentary style of government. But in 1893, when the last Queen tried to-
what you think I can’t say that? Queen Liluokalani. The state fish of Hawaii is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Don’t doubt my Hawaiian-ness again… even
though I’m totally white. Anyway, in 1893 the Queen tried to take back
some of her monarchical powers, and as a result the white settlers, with the help of some
US Marines, revolted and created the Bayonet Constitution – forming the Republic of Hawaii. It lasted four years before it was officially
annexed by the United States. And it was the last state to join the union
in 1959. Hawaiian history is actually incredibly complicated,
interesting, and downright comical at times. Like the fact that the Kamehamehas were so
worried about diluting their bloodline that they pulled a Targaryen and basically incested
themselves into extinction. When the last one died Hawaii had to elect
their next King – from House Kalakaua. Anyway, if you’d like to know way more than
you ever thought you wanted to about Hawaiian history, I highly recommend the book “Unfamiliar
Fishes” by Sarah Vowell. So the next time someone from Texas tells
you that they were the only republic to join the union, you can fire back with Vermont,
California, and Hawaii, because- wait wait wait, what about Deseret and Alaska and all
the other states you haven’t talked about- Sigh, okay I guess I just have to make another
one of these… but again, at least for now, you know better.
I always wondered why Indiana was named after the Indians!
Great video. I'll definitely be watching more.