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Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff Works,

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Hey, brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here, our

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fifty nifty United States may

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have had several more siblings if things

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had turned out differently. For Over the past

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one fifty years, more than a few

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additional states have been proposed, such

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as tex Lahoma and Nikko Jack.

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The state of tex Lahoma was proposed shortly

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before World War Two. The state

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would have been a combination of rural swaths

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of northern Texas and western Oklahoma.

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It was pushed for by residents of those areas

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who wanted better roads. The car

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was becoming ubiquitous at the time, but American

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roads were in terrible condition, especially

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in the oft overlooked rural areas.

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If tex Lahoma came to be citizens reckoned,

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they could build the good roads their region needed.

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The proposal, designed by Oklahoma a

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p Sites, did garner some attention,

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including the backing of then Vice President

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John Nance Garner the Fourth but the

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proposal died when the Texans realized

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it would result in their becoming tex

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Lahmans and losing their identity as

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Texans was unacceptable. In

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addition to that one, at least two states were

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proposed during the Civil War as protests

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against the Confederate States of America and

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its push for secession from the Union. Nika

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Jack was one a combination

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of southeast Tennessee and northern Alabama.

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This area was full of Southern Unionists,

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poor residents who did not own plantations

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or slaves, and were not in favor of secession

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or the Confederacy. Residents of

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these areas put forth their idea in the hopes

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of squashing the secessionist movement in

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their states, But after a majority

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of Alabama's and Tennesseeans voted

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in favor of secession, the nika Jack

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proponents decided it was too dangerous to proceed

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with their proposal, and the matter was dropped.

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The common folk residents of Scott County, Tennessee,

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also wanted to secede from their state leading

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up to the Civil War, believing that joining

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the Confederacy was neither necessary nor

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wise. But unlike the nika

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jack Ians, the people here were pro active

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and made a formal proclamation of secession

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to the state government, dubbing themselves the

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Free and Independent State of Scott.

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The state didn't fight Scott, it simply

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ignored the proclamation. In nineteen

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eight six, Scott County formally requested

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to be readmitted to Tennessee. The

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state accepted the request, and even through

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Scott a party and

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hey ever ponder Michigan's odd shape.

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The midwestern state is comprised of two

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pieces of land, a lower Mitten shaped

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portion and the Up or Upper Peninsula,

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which is actually attached to the neighboring

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state of Wisconsin. The first whispers

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of up separating from Michigan to become

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an independent state of Superior came

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in eighteen fifty eight, but the ensuing

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Civil War quashed the discussion. Yet

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the idea of creating Superior, named

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after the great Lake that the region hugs, has

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been broached several times over the ensuing

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century. While the initial proposal

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was for the new state to be comprised of the Up

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and some tracts of land in the upper portions

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of Lower Michigan and Wasson, more

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recent pushes were just for the up to

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become Superior. And

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meanwhile, speaking of peninsula's, Delaware

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is comprised of the bulk of a small peninsula

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on the east coast, with Maryland and Virginia

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laying claim too tiny chunks of it. Over

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the years, various proposals have been floated

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to create one peninsular state, with

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most plans calling for Maryland and Virginia

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to seed their land Delaware, the new

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state being called del Marva.

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Today's episode was written by Melanie rad Zekeie

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McManus and produced by Tyler Clang. To

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hear more about half baked States, my compatriots

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Ben Bolan and Noel Brown have a whole episode

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about it over on the Ridiculous History podcast

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The United States That Never Were checked

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out. If you enjoy our show and also

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not being naked, check out our shop online

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at t public dot com slash brain Stuff.

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We've got a bunch of back to school stuff like laptop

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cases too, and of course for

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lots more on this and other fully baked topics.

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Thank you very much. Check out our home planet,

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how stuff works dot com. H