Chapter 631: Three West Coast States Secede From the Federation

Chapter 624 Three West Coast States Secede from the Union

"If that's the case, I'll go back and pack up and set off for Washington." Since Liang Yao had said so much, Rong Hong no longer refused and agreed.

The Civic Party really needs spies inside Washington. Otherwise, the West would be in the dark about the situation of the federal government.

As a new and vigorous political party, the Republican Party is relatively united internally, and there are many first-generation Republicans with ideals and ambitions.

There are also many people from prominent families among the Republican leaders, such as Seward, Bates, Blair, etc. These people are not short of money and have a good personal relationship with Lincoln.

It is difficult to use money to corrupt and bribe them to serve as insiders for the West and provide intelligence to the federal government. Even if it can be done, the price to pay is very high.

Moreover, the current situation is that the East is strong and the West is weak, and the North is strong and the South is weak. There is no reason for these Republican leaders to secretly communicate with the West.

"Don't worry, stay and have a family dinner with me later." Liang Yao said reluctantly, holding Yung Wing's hand.

Yung Wing has done a good job in the Ministry of Education during these years. If there is really no one to send, he would not be willing to let such a capable person go.

Everyone looked at Yung Wing with admiration. They had decided that the West would take the path of armed neutrality in this upheaval in North America.

In this case, the situation that Yung Wing would face when he went to Washington alone to take office must be very dangerous.

"Please look, everyone, this is our national flag." In order to ease the depressing atmosphere in the hall, Fremont ordered people to display the national flag that had been designed long ago.

The background color of this national flag is blue, and there is a relatively large white five-pointed star in the center of the flag. Around this relatively large white five-pointed star, seven relatively small white five-pointed stars are clustered around it at equal distances.

"The larger white star in the middle represents California, and the remaining seven white stars represent the other western states." Fremont walked to the flag and introduced the meaning of the flag to everyone.

"Which seven states do the remaining seven white stars represent?" Stanford asked hurriedly. He counted with his fingers and felt that the number of stars was a little wrong.

Liang Yao and Fremont had already prepared the flag, which surprised Wu Yuanhua and others. They wondered if they had already thought of the country name.

"These seven stars represent Oregon, Liangzhou, West Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico." Liang Yao explained to everyone, "Nevada is poor and has few people. No new state will be established. It will be directly incorporated into California."

The eight states or territories represented on the flag are the areas that the Western political group has been able to effectively control so far. Liang Yao decided to integrate these areas.

As for the Idaho Territory, Montana Territory, and Wyoming Territory, which have not yet been able to be effectively governed, they can wait until they are stable.

Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming are geographically far from the east and adjacent to the west, so the west has a geographical advantage. These areas will sooner or later be in the pocket of the west.

"Good, good, good!" Stanford said no objection when he learned that one of the eight white five-pointed stars on the white star flag represents the Utah Territory.

"Is it too radical to directly establish a new country?" Robinson hesitated for a moment and said worriedly, "Why not temporarily establish a Western Customs Union to test the attitude of the east first."

Robinson also agreed to secede from the federation, but he hoped that the western region could secede from the federation in a more moderate and gradual way.

"I'm sure you have heard about what happened in Baltimore." Liang Yao showed everyone the photo that Collins handed to him.

"Before Lincoln ascended the presidency, he had already seized power, trampled on the Constitution, disregarded Maryland's state rights, and privately sent Dix to lead the Northern Army to Baltimore, resulting in a tragedy. Do you want our western cities to become the next Baltimore?"

Liang Yao did not react much to the changes before because the situation was still unclear and the Republican Party and Lincoln had not yet made obvious mistakes. The western region is a free state, and it is not legitimate to secede from the federation rashly.

Now, four light blue states led by Virginia have announced that they will change their colors and join the Confederacy. The Confederacy has gradually taken shape and moved its capital to Richmond. The Southern Confederacy has the strength to fight the Northern Federation, and the situation is already very clear.

More importantly, Lincoln has already violated the Constitution and openly trampled on state rights. If he announces his secession from the Federation at this time, the West will not face too much public opinion and political pressure.

If he does not secede from the Federation now, when will he?

"Now is the best time to secede from the Union." Fremont also stood up and said, "Lincoln has not yet officially taken office, the cabinet has not yet been organized, and the situation in the East is chaotic. For at least three months, the federal government will have no time to look west. We have more than enough time to deal with the pressure we will face after seceding from the Confederacy, especially military pressure."

"I won't say much about other nonsense. If you have no objection, go home. Oregon, Liangzhou will convene a state assembly and quickly follow the procedures to secede from the Union. The remaining territories must complete the statehood within one month. If it's late, don't blame you for not having a seat in Congress." Liang Yao, with his back to the vest, swept his cold eyes over everyone present and said in an unquestionable tone.

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1861 entered the second month.

The joining of Civic Party members Garrett and Yung Wing into the future new government was a rare happy event for Lincoln and the Republican Party these days.

Lincoln made a big fuss about it, telling the public that the entry of Civic Party members, especially the Chinese Civic Party members, into the cabinet was the best proof of the unity of the East and the West. The union between the free states will crush all illegal forces that attempt to split the federation.

Lincoln was very happy to pull Garrett and Yung Wing to appear in public frequently, and officially appointed Garrett as Deputy Minister of the Post Office and Yung Wing as Vice Chairman of the Federal Education Committee.

Just the day after Lincoln completed the appointment of the two, the three free states on the West Coast of California, Oregon, and Liangzhou sent a telegram to the whole country, announcing their secession from the Union on the grounds that the federal government violated the constitution and did not respect state rights.

The news that the three West Coast states announced their secession from the Union was like a bolt from the blue, and Lincoln was so shocked that he could not recover for a long time.

The three West Coast states' secession from the Union dealt a far greater blow to Lincoln and the Republican Party than the four southern swing slave states led by Virginia's secession from the Union and joining the Confederacy.

After all, these states were originally slave states, and Lincoln did not hold much hope in winning them.

And the three West Coast states that just announced their secession from the Union were all free states!