Welcome to the Ohio Republic!

The purpose of this blog is to advocate the peaceful, legal independence of Ohio from the United States of America. This will be done by discussing the philosophy that will underlie the new political system; the emotional, legal, and practical issues involved in achieving independence; and highlighting news of differences between the State of Ohio and the United States Government. I shall also take a look, where appropriate, at existing secessionist movements in the United States for the lessons they may teach us. In the near future, I plan to add sections for interesting documents and links of related interest.

At this early stage, I envision a Republic, consisting of Ohio alone, that will have limited powers; delegating and reserving most of the domestic functions of government to the counties, the municipalities and townships, and to the people themselves. The general philosophy is known as decentralism, as promoted by the Middlebury Institute (a secessionist think tank) and the E. F. Schumacher Society. However, “pure” decentralism is designed for very small populations. We shall need to modify it to meet the needs of Ohio’s size, diversity, and culture.

Following a period of discussion, given sufficient interest, a movement will be organized to carry the struggle to the people of Ohio. I invite your comments as we move forward.

Here are some of my thoughts on what our independence movement should look like:

It will advocate independence by peaceful, legal means. Initially, I see it as a movement that eventually will put on the Ohio ballot an issue to call a convention to dissolve the Union between Ohio and the other states; but it is possible that legal issues could develop which would necessitate the formation of a political party for that purpose.

Such a movement is not seditious. The Government in Washington will remain in power – may they rule in peace – only not over us. Speech advocating peaceful secession is protected by the First Amendment.

This movement is non-racial. Everyone of every color and faith shares the same basic needs. While some previous movements for secession and states’ rights were intended to promote the supremacy of one race, the movement for the Ohio Republic is intended to end our relationship with a Federal Government that, despite claims to the contrary, actually oppresses minorities as much as (maybe more than) the rest of us. In future posts, I shall explain why this is so.

While the principal effort will be focused on political change, a successful independence movement will also have cultural and economic components. A distinct culture will turn a seceded State into a nation in its own right; encouraging the development of local economies will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of goods and services and minimize the need to “compete” in the global economy of cheap goods created by underpaid labor.

The ultimate purpose of independence is to restore a sense of community, which experience has shown to be a spiritual necessity for all people. This community will come from preserving, for ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of Liberty granted by God and articulated by the framers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutions of the United States and of Ohio; and by restoring the influence each of us as citizens once had on the government of our community and nation.

This is not a sudden whim. I have been thinking about this subject since 1989, but many necessary ideas remain undeveloped or underdeveloped. I invite you to join me to turn these ideas into the building blocks of a new nation that is small in population, but great in heart.

Harold D. Thomas