List of active separatist movements in North America
Encyclopedia
This is a list of currently active separatist
movements in North America
. Separatism includes autonomism
and secession
ism. What is and is not considered an autonomist or secessionist movement is sometimes contentious. Entries on this list must meet two criteria:
Under each region listed is one or more of the following:
Secessionist movements
Autonomist movements
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
movements in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Separatism includes autonomism
Autonomism
Autonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerist communism...
and secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
ism. What is and is not considered an autonomist or secessionist movement is sometimes contentious. Entries on this list must meet two criteria:
- They are active movements with living, active members.
- They are seeking greater autonomy or self-determination for a geographic region (as opposed to personal autonomy).
Under each region listed is one or more of the following:
- De facto state: for regions with de factoDe factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
autonomy from the government - Proposed state: proposed name for a seceding sovereign stateSovereign stateA sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
- Proposed autonomous area: for movements toward greater autonomy for an areaAutonomous areaAn autonomous area or autonomous entity is an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or freedom from an external authority. Typically it is either geographically distinct from the rest of the country or populated by a national minority. Countries that include autonomous areas are often...
but not outright secession - Government-in-exile: for a government based outside of the region in questionGovernment in exileA government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
, with or without control - Political party (or parties): for political partiesPolitical partyA political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
involved in a political system to push for autonomy or secession - Militant organisation(s): for armed organisations (sometimes called terrorist organisationsTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
) - Advocacy group(s): for non-belligerent, non-politically participatory entitiesAdvocacy groupAdvocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Secessionist movements- Alberta
AlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
(Main article: Alberta separatismAlberta separatismAlberta separatism is a movement that advocates the secession of the province of Alberta from Canada either by forming an independent nation, or by creating a new federation with one or more of Canada's other three westernmost provinces.-Foundations:...
)- Political party: Separation Party of AlbertaSeparation Party of AlbertaThe Separation Party of Alberta is a political party that advocates the secession of Alberta from Canada. Its leader is Bruce Hutton.-History:...
- Political party: Separation Party of Alberta
- British Columbia
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
+ Pacific Northwestern USPacific NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
- Proposed state: Cascadia
- Pressure group: Republic of Cascadia
- Quebec
QuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(Main article: Quebec sovereignty movementQuebec sovereignty movementThe Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
)- Civil organization: Saint-Jean-Baptiste SocietySaint-Jean-Baptiste SocietyThe Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec Sovereignism. Its current President is Mario Beaulieu....
, Mouvement national des Québécois et des QuébécoisesMouvement national des Québécoises et des QuébécoisFounded in 1947, the Mouvement national des Québécoises et des Québécois is a federation that groups together the various patriotic organizations in Quebec, Canada...
(MNQ), Rassemblement pour l'indépendance du QuébecRassemblement pour l'indépendance du QuébecThe Rassemblement pour l'indépendance du Québec, or RIQ, is an association of citizens in favour of Quebec independence.Founded in May 2000, it is purposely unaffiliated officially with any political party or any political ideology outside sovereignty matters The Rassemblement pour l'indépendance...
(RIQ), Les Intellectuels pour la souverainetéLes Intellectuels pour la souverainetéLes Intellectuels pour la souveraineté, or IPSO, is a group of intellectuals studying and promoting Quebec independence.It was created on June 21, 1995 by the publication of their manifesto, four months before the second referendum on Quebec sovereignty took place...
(IPSO), Mouvement de libération nationale du QuébecMouvement de Libération Nationale du QuébecThe Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec is a secessionist group in Quebec, Canada, founded by Front de libération du Québec founder and convicted manslaughterer, Raymond Villeneuve...
(MLNQ), Réseau de Résistance du Québecois (RRQ) - Labour union: Confédération des syndicats nationauxConfédération des Syndicats NationauxThe Confédération des syndicats nationaux , is the second largest trade union federation in Quebec by membership.- History :...
(CSN), Centrale des syndicats du QuébecCentrale des syndicats du QuébecThe Centrale des syndicats du Québec , or CSQ, is the third most important trade union in Quebec, Canada, according to membership....
(CSQ), Fédération des travailleurs du QuébecFédération des travailleurs du QuébecThe Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec , or FTQ, is the largest labour federation in Quebec in terms of its membership. It has over 500,000 members, who account for 44% of the unionised workers in Quebec. This ratio is 60% in the private sector, in which most members work...
(FTQ), Union des artistesUnion des artistesThe Union des artistes or Artist union is a Quebec-based labour organization representing stage, television, radio and film performers in French-language media in Canada . It represents over 6,900 members and is affiliated with the International Federation of Actors...
(UDA) - Political party: Parti QuébécoisParti QuébécoisThe Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
, Bloc QuébécoisBloc QuébécoisThe Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
, Québec solidaireQuébec SolidaireQuébec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led...
, Parti indépendantisteParti indépendantisteThe Parti indépendantiste was a provincial party which advocated Quebec sovereignty in Québec, Canada in the second half of the 1980s.-Denis Monière:... - Proposed state: QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
- Civil organization: Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society
- Saskatchewan
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
- Political party: Western Independence Party of SaskatchewanWestern Independence Party of SaskatchewanThe Western Independence Party of Saskatchewan is a provincial political party in Saskatchewan, Canada. It advocates the independence of Saskatchewan, and the formation of a new country. It is not affiliated with any federal party...
- Political party: Western Independence Party of Saskatchewan
- Western CanadaWestern CanadaWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
- Political party: Western Block PartyWestern Block PartyThe Western Block Party is a political party in Canada founded in 2005 by Doug Christie. The party became officially registered on December 29, 2005....
- Political party: Western Block Party
Autonomist movements
- Nunatsiavut
NunatsiavutNunatsiavut is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inuit Association submitted a proposal for limited autonomy to the government of Newfoundland and... - QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
- Political party: Action démocratique du QuébecAction démocratique du QuébecThe Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists....
- Political party: Action démocratique du Québec
DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
- Greenland
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
- Political party: Inuit AtaqatigiitInuit AtaqatigiitInuit Ataqatigiit is a leftist and separatist political party in Greenland. The party was born out of the increased youth radicalism in Denmark during the 1970s. The party strives to make Greenland an independent state.In the 2005 elections, the party won 22.6% of the popular vote and seven out of...
- Political party: Inuit Ataqatigiit
MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
- ChiapasChiapasChiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
- Zapatista
Zapatista Army of National LiberationThe Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
autonomous self-governing region and Militant movement
United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Alaska
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
- Political party: Alaskan Independence PartyAlaskan Independence PartyThe Alaskan Independence Party is a political party in the U.S. state of Alaska that advocates an in-state referendum which includes the option of Alaska becoming an independent country...
- Political party: Alaskan Independence Party
- Lakota Sioux
- Pressure group(s): Lakotah Oyate
- Proposed state: Republic of Lakotah
- New York City
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- Pressure group(s): Peter VllonePeter Vallone, Sr.Peter F. Vallone, Sr. is an American politician.- Background :His father, Judge Charles J. Vallone of the Queens County Civil Court, encouraged young Peter to broaden his horizons beyond the limited social interactions with other ethnic and religious groups than were encouraged in the pre-Vatican...
, Free City of Tri-InsulaNew York City secessionThere are and have been several secession movements in New York state. The most prominent amongst these have been the movements for a state of New York City, a state of Long Island, a state of Niagara , and a state of Upstate New York....
- Pressure group(s): Peter Vllone
- New York State
- Pressure group(s): Joseph Sawiki (Western Long Island), Randy Kuhl (Upstate)
- Proposed state:Independent Long Island
- Pacific NorthwestPacific NorthwestThe Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
+ British Columbia, CanadaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
- Proposed state: CascadiaCascadia (independence movement)Cascadia is the proposed name for a bioregional political entity and/or an independent nation located within the Cascadian bioregion of the Pacific Northwest of North America...
- Pressure group(s): Republic of Cascadia,
- Proposed state: Cascadia
- Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
-
- Secessionist movements
- Political party: Puerto Rican Independence PartyPuerto Rican Independence PartyThe Puerto Rican Independence Party is a Puerto Rican political party that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from United States suzerainty....
(PIP) - Pressure group: Puerto Rican Nationalist PartyPuerto Rican Nationalist PartyThe Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
, Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH), Socialist FrontSocialist FrontThe Socialist Front is a coalition of far-left and pro-independence political organizations in Puerto Rico. The Socialist Front also includes non-partisan activists....
(FS), Puerto Rican independence movementPuerto Rican independence movementThe Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...
(MPI) - Militant organization: Boricua Popular ArmyBoricua Popular ArmyThe Boricua Popular/People's Army — or Ejército Popular Boricua in Spanish — is a clandestine organization based on the island of Puerto Rico, with cells in the United States. They campaign for and support the independence of Puerto Rico from what they characterize as United States colonial rule...
(Macheteros)
- Political party: Puerto Rican Independence Party
- Autonomist movements
- Political party: Popular Democratic Party of Puerto RicoPopular Democratic Party of Puerto RicoThe Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
(PPD) - Pressure group: Movimiento Unión SoberanistaMovimiento Unión SoberanistaMovimiento Unión Soberanista is a Puerto Rican political movement. The movement was founded in November 2010 in the city of Caguas, PR. They are presently attempting to get 60,000 endorsements required by the new electoral law of the Commonwealth to enroll in the State Elections Commission .The...
(MUS)
- Political party: Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
- Secessionist movements
- The South
Southern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
- Pressure group(s): League of the SouthLeague of the SouthThe League of the South is a Southern nationalist organization, headquartered in Killen, Alabama, which states that its ultimate goal is "a free and independent Southern republic." The group defines the Southern United States as the states that made up the former Confederacy...
- Proposed state: Confederate States of America
- See also: Neo-confederateNeo-confederateNeo-Confederate is a term used by some academics and political activists to describe the views of various groups and individuals who have a positive belief system concerning the historical experience of the Confederate States of America, the Southern secession, and the Southern United...
movement
- Pressure group(s): League of the South
- Southwest
Southwestern United StatesThe Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
+ Northern Mexico- Pressure group(s): Raza Unida PartyRaza Unida PartyPartido Nacional de La Raza Unida is an American political party centered on Chicano interests. The party was termed La Raza in reference to the Mestizo people. During the 1970s the Party campaigned for better housing, work, and educational opportunities for Mexican-Americans...
and Voz de AztlanVoz de AztlanLa Voz de Aztlan is "an internet news service for Mexican and Mexican-Americans in the U.S. Southwest and in Mexico."...
- Pressure group(s): Raza Unida Party
- Texas
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
- Proposed state: Republic of Texas
- Pressure group(s): Republic of TexasRepublic of Texas (group)The Republic of Texas is a militia group that claims that the annexation of Texas by the United States was illegal and that Texas remains an independent nation under occupation. The issue of the Legal status of Texas led the group to claim to reinstate a provisional government on December 13, 1995...
- See: :Texas Secession Movement
- Militant organization:The Republic of Texas Group
- Vermont
VermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
- Proposed state: Green Mountain Republic of Vermont
- Pressure group(s): Second Vermont RepublicSecond Vermont RepublicSecond Vermont Republic is a secessionist group within the U.S. state of Vermont which seeks to return to the formerly independent status of the Vermont Republic . It describes itself as "a nonviolent citizens' network and think tank opposed to the tyranny of Corporate America and the U.S...
FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- Martinique
MartiniqueMartinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
-
- Autonomist movements
- Political party: Martinican Progressive PartyMartinican Progressive PartyThe Martinican Progressive Party is a Martinican political party founded on March 22, 1958 by poet Aimé Césaire. The party favors the autonomy of Martinique within France, unlike the nationalist MIM. The party has one seat in the French National Assembly, Serge Letchimy, deputy from...
- Political party: Martinican Progressive Party
- Secessionist movements
- Political party: Martinican Independence Movement
Martinican Independence MovementThe Martinican Independence Movement or MIM is a left-wing political party in the overseas department of Martinique, founded July 1, 1978 by Alfred Marie-Jeanne with the aim of securing "the decolonization and independence of Martinique"...
- Political party:
- Autonomist movements
St. Kitts and Nevis
- Nevis
NevisNevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...
- Political party: Concerned Citizens' MovementConcerned Citizens' MovementThe Concerned Citizens' Movement is a Nevis-based political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Led by Vance Amory, the party currently holds two of the eleven seats in the National Assembly.-History:...
, Nevis Reformation PartyNevis Reformation PartyThe Nevis Reformation Party is a Nevis-based political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Led by Joseph Parry, the party currently holds one of the eleven seats in the National Assembly. It is also the ruling party on Nevis, holding three of the five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly.-History:The...
- Political party: Concerned Citizens' Movement
United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(Caribbean)
- Montserrat
MontserratMontserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
- Political parties: New People's Liberation Movement
- Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos IslandsThe Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...
See also
- List of active separatist movements
- Historic regions of the United StatesHistoric regions of the United StatesThis is a list of historic regions of the United States.-Colonial era :-The Thirteen Colonies:* Connecticut Colony* Delaware Colony* Province of Georgia* Province of Maryland...
- List of historical separatist movements