(QMI Agency file photo)

Within a week of U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election, citizens from 21 states have filed petitions asking to secede from the United States, according to the White House website.

Louisiana was first, posting its request on Nov. 7.

It was soon joined by Texas, on Nov. 9.

In asking for the president to “peacefully grant” permission for his state to withdraw from the union, creator Micah H., of Arlington, wrote: “To do so would protect its citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.”

Petitioners have one month to obtain 25,000 signatures in order for the president to consider the request.

As of Monday morning, Louisiana had 13,197.

Texas had 17,260.

The petition from Florida was created Saturday — the same day the state finally declared Obama the victor in this election after another controversial ballot count. On Monday morning, it had 4,823 signatures.

The other 18 states with requests for secession: Alabama, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, New Jersey, New York, Arkansas, Georgia and Missouri.

All quote a passage from the Declaration of Independence that reads “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government.”

Nearly half of the US threatens to secede

Reuters / Chris Keane

As the saying goes: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Some Americans upset with the results of Election Day don’t quite agree, and now residents from 20 states have filed petitions with the White House to secede from the country.

Louisiana became the first of the (as of now) 50 united states that managed to collect enough signatures to have their petition for secession added to the White House’s website last week, and so far they’ve had no problem finding company. A petition asking for the government to “Peacefully grant the State of Louisiana to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government” garnered more than 14,000 signatures since going live on November 7, and so far 19 other states have managed to attract similar success.

According to the terms of participation on WhiteHouse.gov, the website for the executive branch of the United States will make any petition searchable if it can collect 150 signatures within one months’ time, and collecting 25,000 signatures will necessitate an official response. So far Texas seems to be in the running to be the first state to receive a response from the commander-in-chief, with 21,777 signees asking for secession since their petition went live on November 9, barely 48 hours after US President Barack Obama claimed a victory in his bid for re-election.

In all, 20 states have so far broken the 150 signature threshold, mostly sticking closely to the script included in the first petition published by “Michael E” of Slidell, LA, who quotes the Declaration of Independence in his plea to once again separate the public from a power that, according to thousands of residents, doesn’t represent what is best for the people anymore.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation,” Michael writes. “…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government…”

In the case of Florida, where 6,271 signees have added their names between November 10 and November 12, the creator called on a quip from founding father Benjamin Franklin to explain his motives, quoting him as saying, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

“Scott E” of Columbia Falls, MT also quoted Mr. Franklin in creating a petition that asks for the peaceful secession of Montana, adding that residents there “do see that in today’s world the Federal Government has not led our citizens justly and with honor.” In just two days, that petition has been signed more than 4,000 times.

In the Lone Star State, only 3,000 or so Texans are needed to cross that 25,000 threshold. According to their petition started by Arlington, TX’s “Micah E,” “The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending.”

“Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect its citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government,” he writes, adding that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have blatantly abused the civil rights of Texans and other Americans, and cessation could be the only solution.

Should the threats of secession materialize past a flash in the pan on the White House’s website, the United States is likely to have a new addition sooner or later anyway. On Nov. 6, voters in Puerto Rico elected to petition US Congress for statehood, putting them on track to perhaps becoming the fifty-first member of the union.

The states that have so far accumulated more than 150 signatures on WhiteHouse.gov include Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas. Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina have all crossed the 150 mark on two separate petitions posted online.

Petition for Texas to secede from US reaches threshold for White House response

An online petition that calls for the state to Texas to withdraw from the U.S. and create its own government on Monday reached the required signature threshold to receive an official response from The White House.

The petition on WhiteHouse.gov asks the Obama administration to “peacefully grant the State of Texas to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.” The petition had surpassed 34,000 signatures as of Monday evening. It was created by a person self-identified only as “Micah H.” from Arlington, Texas.

Online petitions on WhiteHouse.gov that get sufficient support are reviewed by White House staff and “sent to the appropriate policy experts.” To be searchable on WhiteHouse.gov in the first place, petitions currently need to get 150 signatures within 30 days. To get an official response, petitions need 25,000 signatures within 30 days.

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Similar petitions from other states have also been filed including: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee. However, unlike the petition from Texas, none of these states had reached the 25,000-signature threshold to get an official White House response as of Monday evening.

According to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, a 1866 proclamation signed by then-President Andrew Johnson clearly spelled out that no state had the right to leave the union:

“…It is the manifest determination of the American people that no State, of its own will, has a right or power to go out of or separate itself from, or be separated from the American Union; and that, therefore, each State ought to remain and constitute an integral part of the United States…”

The flurry of petitions are likely just the consequence of voters unhappy with last week’s presidential election results. University of Texas at Austin Assistant Professor Jason Casellas told NBC News that’s likely the case in Texas, where 57 percent of the state population’s vote went for Republican Mitt Romney.

Catherine Frazier, press secretary for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, told NBC News Monday that the governor “believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it.”

“But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government,” Frazier said in a statement. “Now more than ever our country needs strong leadership from states like Texas, that are making tough decisions to live within their means, keep taxes low and provide opportunities to job creators so their citizens can provide for their families and prosper.”