Pruning the Liberty Tree

[Keith Broaders]

My grandfather owned hundreds of acres of apple trees. He discovered that in order to improve the quality of his harvest, it was necessary for him to prune his trees in the winter and thin them in the summer.

Virginia was originally a gigantic territory, but as the population increased it was determined that it would be impossible to govern such a large territory. To solve the problem they created the new state of Kentucky. Dividing large states into smaller more manageable units was also what happened when Vermont broke away from New York and when Maine broke away from Massachusetts. West Virginia was created in 1861 when it seceded from Virginia and was admitted as our nation's thirty-fifth state.

The idea that our nation is indivisible did not apply then and shouldn't apply today. By creating new states we are able to shrink the size of government and empower the people.

States are a lot more than simply a geographical region, a state is a collection of people who share a common language, culture and values. When a nation consists of states that have conflicting values, it can create contention and disharmony.

We need to allow our people to form a new nation of individuals who embrace the principles of liberty and the Constitution. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson admonishes us to alter or abolish the government when it becomes tyrannical.

With a Congressional approval rating of less than 10%, I think the time has come for us to create a new nation. Rather than having one divided nation, we need to create two nations which will enable everyone to live in a country where their lives, liberty and property are secure.

When states are too large they cannot be managed efficiently and the people are inadequately represented. One solution is to create two nations and to sub divide the larger states.

[Keith Broaders]

The Constitution required the consent of Virginia's legislature, but because Virginia had seceded from the Union, Congress did not feel it was necessary to obtain Virginia's approval.