World History
Last summer, I wrote a post titled Miland Brown's Eight Tips for American Separatists. It was a follow up to The Dominion of British West Florida and Tips for Creating an American Separatist Cause. The latter post was extensively commented on and was featured in four separate Web carnivals.
In the last year, I have ascertained three more steps that any American separatist group ought to use to help advance their nonsense. Knowledge is power in fighting bad history so I have decided to update the list to eleven. Knowing how easy it is to make bogus claims of illegal occupation should make it easier for the historian and your average joe in being able to critically think about and refute these claims.
Of course, if separatists are able to use this list to successfully set up an independent republic of Idaho, I will feel bad but I do not think it is likely to happen...
Here is the new list with the new tips in bold:
Miland Brown's Eleven Tips for American Separatists
I guess if we get creative, every part of the USA is under illegal occupation by the USA. Here is a list of tips for creating your own American separatist cause! (These tips would work for non-American parts of the world too.)
1. Start with the premise that your area is illegally occupied. Working backward in time, accept any evidence which supports your view, ignore or misconstrue any evidence that does not fit it, and then reach the conclusion your area is illegally occupied. Be sure to negate strong evidence which refutes your view by denying the validity of the problematic fact.
2. Look over every treaty, agreement, document, or ruling that impacts the current legal status of the area in question. Go back as many centuries as you need to find the right dirt. Can you find even a single instance where someone forgot to dot an "i" or cross a "t"? Is there any technicality (no matter how minor) that could be highlighted? If so, congratulations! You can now claim that American sovereignty is illegal under American and international law and that all subsequent legislation by the USA is not binding.
3. Has even a single American military member been in your area since the time you can "prove" American ownership of you area is bogus? If so, you can now claim an invasion happened and can throw around the word occupation. It does not matter if shots were fired. The mere presence of American soldiers constitutes an act of war.
4. Did the people of your area actually vote to join the USA? If not, claim the annexation as illegal and undemocratic. If so, did it happen after the "occupation" began? Did people (or their descendants) who were not citizens of your area prior to American "occupation" participate in the vote? If so, dismiss the election and declare it invalid as the "occupiers" rigged the election by voting too.
5. Look at international law passed by the League of Nations or the United Nations after your area was "illegally" annexed by the USA. Using an ex post de facto approach, hold America accountable for violating international laws which were passed long after the area in question was acquired by the USA.
6. Put up a web site bolding stating your "facts." Claim to be the legitimate representative of your nation under occupation. Be sure to put up lots of pages detailing the alleged violations of international law and showing American aggression. Be sure to get your site listed in as many places as possible. Be aggressive in search engine optimization. (Create a blog or two too!)
7. Have a forum at your site. Use it to repeat your claims over and over again and link to any website or news article which in any way could be twisted to support your arguments. Ruthlessly use ad hominem attacks on anyone who posts anything you disagree with. Calling them ignorant of international law and history or even racist should do the trick.
8. Head on over to Wikipedia, learn the ropes, and start inserting your version of history in every article you find! If you are subtle, good at edit wars, and have a lot of patience, you can make a real difference.
9. If you are brave, start up your own national bank and start issuing money and loans. You can also sell passports! When you get busted, use this as evidence of continued American aggression and attempts to silence your movement. Be sure to highlight on your site the "political prisoners" the USA puts in jail. (Go ahead and sell stamps too!)
10. Distance yourself from other separatists groups. Some Hawaiians, Texans, Alaskans, etc. may be claiming occupation but in your case it is real. You may all use the same arguments but there are important differences. Also, deny you are a separatist. Since your area was never legally American, you are not separating or seceding. You are asking to be restored. Further, make clear your area never has been and is not currently legally American.
11. Praise anyone who in anyway agrees with any point you are making. Treat criticism of your arguments as proof that your movement is growing and the your opponents are panicking. Treat the issue of people ignoring you as proof that your opponents fear confronting you because they know you are right. No matter what your opponents do, it proves your point.
- Vermont Separatists In Alliance With White Supremacists
Last year, I wrote a post titled Vermont Liberation Front! It described a movement which hopes to have Vermont secede from the USA. I outlined my objections to this based on my understanding of history, law, and reality. However, now I have a new objection....
- Three Years Of The World History Blog
Happy New Year! Last week, this blog successfully passed the three year birthday date. As blogs tend to have short lives, I am very happy to still be around and blogging on a regular basis. Let me thank some people: 1. I appreciate all the readers who...
- The Dominion Of British West Florida And Tips For Creating An American Separatist Cause
Well, separatist fantasies never seem to go away in the USA. In past posts, I have made notes about dubious separatist causes in Alaska, Hawaii, and Texas. I have not posted on those claiming the Confederate States of America still legally exists but...
- Wacky American Separatists
The world is full of regions and ethnic groups clamoring for independence. Some have valid causes, most do not. Just because you have your own administrative region or history as a people going back thousands of years does not mean you get your own nation...
- Hawaiian Independence?
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World History
Illegally Occupy This! Miland Brown's Tips for American Separatists Updated
Last summer, I wrote a post titled Miland Brown's Eight Tips for American Separatists. It was a follow up to The Dominion of British West Florida and Tips for Creating an American Separatist Cause. The latter post was extensively commented on and was featured in four separate Web carnivals.
In the last year, I have ascertained three more steps that any American separatist group ought to use to help advance their nonsense. Knowledge is power in fighting bad history so I have decided to update the list to eleven. Knowing how easy it is to make bogus claims of illegal occupation should make it easier for the historian and your average joe in being able to critically think about and refute these claims.
Of course, if separatists are able to use this list to successfully set up an independent republic of Idaho, I will feel bad but I do not think it is likely to happen...
Here is the new list with the new tips in bold:
Miland Brown's Eleven Tips for American Separatists
I guess if we get creative, every part of the USA is under illegal occupation by the USA. Here is a list of tips for creating your own American separatist cause! (These tips would work for non-American parts of the world too.)
1. Start with the premise that your area is illegally occupied. Working backward in time, accept any evidence which supports your view, ignore or misconstrue any evidence that does not fit it, and then reach the conclusion your area is illegally occupied. Be sure to negate strong evidence which refutes your view by denying the validity of the problematic fact.
2. Look over every treaty, agreement, document, or ruling that impacts the current legal status of the area in question. Go back as many centuries as you need to find the right dirt. Can you find even a single instance where someone forgot to dot an "i" or cross a "t"? Is there any technicality (no matter how minor) that could be highlighted? If so, congratulations! You can now claim that American sovereignty is illegal under American and international law and that all subsequent legislation by the USA is not binding.
3. Has even a single American military member been in your area since the time you can "prove" American ownership of you area is bogus? If so, you can now claim an invasion happened and can throw around the word occupation. It does not matter if shots were fired. The mere presence of American soldiers constitutes an act of war.
4. Did the people of your area actually vote to join the USA? If not, claim the annexation as illegal and undemocratic. If so, did it happen after the "occupation" began? Did people (or their descendants) who were not citizens of your area prior to American "occupation" participate in the vote? If so, dismiss the election and declare it invalid as the "occupiers" rigged the election by voting too.
5. Look at international law passed by the League of Nations or the United Nations after your area was "illegally" annexed by the USA. Using an ex post de facto approach, hold America accountable for violating international laws which were passed long after the area in question was acquired by the USA.
6. Put up a web site bolding stating your "facts." Claim to be the legitimate representative of your nation under occupation. Be sure to put up lots of pages detailing the alleged violations of international law and showing American aggression. Be sure to get your site listed in as many places as possible. Be aggressive in search engine optimization. (Create a blog or two too!)
7. Have a forum at your site. Use it to repeat your claims over and over again and link to any website or news article which in any way could be twisted to support your arguments. Ruthlessly use ad hominem attacks on anyone who posts anything you disagree with. Calling them ignorant of international law and history or even racist should do the trick.
8. Head on over to Wikipedia, learn the ropes, and start inserting your version of history in every article you find! If you are subtle, good at edit wars, and have a lot of patience, you can make a real difference.
9. If you are brave, start up your own national bank and start issuing money and loans. You can also sell passports! When you get busted, use this as evidence of continued American aggression and attempts to silence your movement. Be sure to highlight on your site the "political prisoners" the USA puts in jail. (Go ahead and sell stamps too!)
10. Distance yourself from other separatists groups. Some Hawaiians, Texans, Alaskans, etc. may be claiming occupation but in your case it is real. You may all use the same arguments but there are important differences. Also, deny you are a separatist. Since your area was never legally American, you are not separating or seceding. You are asking to be restored. Further, make clear your area never has been and is not currently legally American.
11. Praise anyone who in anyway agrees with any point you are making. Treat criticism of your arguments as proof that your movement is growing and the your opponents are panicking. Treat the issue of people ignoring you as proof that your opponents fear confronting you because they know you are right. No matter what your opponents do, it proves your point.
- Vermont Separatists In Alliance With White Supremacists
Last year, I wrote a post titled Vermont Liberation Front! It described a movement which hopes to have Vermont secede from the USA. I outlined my objections to this based on my understanding of history, law, and reality. However, now I have a new objection....
- Three Years Of The World History Blog
Happy New Year! Last week, this blog successfully passed the three year birthday date. As blogs tend to have short lives, I am very happy to still be around and blogging on a regular basis. Let me thank some people: 1. I appreciate all the readers who...
- The Dominion Of British West Florida And Tips For Creating An American Separatist Cause
Well, separatist fantasies never seem to go away in the USA. In past posts, I have made notes about dubious separatist causes in Alaska, Hawaii, and Texas. I have not posted on those claiming the Confederate States of America still legally exists but...
- Wacky American Separatists
The world is full of regions and ethnic groups clamoring for independence. Some have valid causes, most do not. Just because you have your own administrative region or history as a people going back thousands of years does not mean you get your own nation...
- Hawaiian Independence?
Hawaiian Independence? How many states are there in the American Union? It is 50 of course. But some will try to claim there are only 49! How? They misread history by claiming Hawaii is not really an American state. The root of this confusion has to do...