New France

The Republic of New England
has been exchanging messages with
the Republique de la Louisiane
through the Facebook chat medium.

Their page is ostensibly devoted
to the secession of Louisiana
from the U.S.A. to become a
territory of a New France.

The proprietor of the page
apparently is a French Canadian
who envisions a confederation of
French-speaking areas in North America.

He was upset about our invitation
to the maritime provinces of Canada
to join our republic, if orphaned by
the creation of a sovereign Quebec.

He has led us through an
interesting history lesson on
the fate of francophones
after the British conquest.

His plan requires annexing portions
of Maine and New Brunswick
that were part of French Canada and
are still French-speaking.

We see some objections to that
from the governments concerned.
Nevertheless, it is a bold plan
which deserves some consideration.

Inclusion of Louisiana, however,
is puzzling because there are
so few Cajuns left who spoke
only French in their childhood years.

Not to mention ignoring what
the reaction of Bobby Jindal
and the Louisiana legislature
might be to such a proposal.

Also on Facebook is a proposal
to establish a new state in the U.S.A.
to be called, "Acadia," comprising
northern Maine and New Hampshire.

Complicating the mix is the
island archipelago of Miquelon and
St. Pierre, just south of Labrador, which
is a fully functioning territory of France.

Perhaps that might be a base for
organizing the reestablishment of
a New France, fulfilling DeGaulle's
cry of, "Vive Quebec Libre!"

2014 Update

2014 Update

The new Facebook page,
Republic of New England,
has engendered quite a bit of
interesting traffic and comments.

We need to make clear that our
proposal is entirely peaceful,
involving no revolt or resistance,
nor any fund raising at this time.

Our separation from the U.S.A.
is predicated on a collapse of
the federal government, which has
already reached a critical stage.

Congress now has ceased to
pass any progressive legislation
out of fear that the executive branch
will fail to execute its provisions.

In the short term, appropriations
may continue to keep the government
functioning, while heightening the
concern over defaulting the debt.

We are in communication with
many separatist and secessionist
movements, ranging from serious
to fanciful recreations of the past.

A premise is developing that big
governments are too big and risk
collapse when they are out of touch
with the people they purport to serve.

History is full of examples of empires
that reached their expiration date.
We fear that the land of the free and
the home of the brave no longer exists.

More of the important events
of our lives are tightly regulated
while dependence on taxpayer
largesse becomes the norm.