Why do you say "independence" instead of "secession"?

Because "independence" is the accurate word, and "secession" is a word chosen by our opponents to make an ordinary act of self-government sound like a crime.

The words describe different things

Secession is a word weighted down by 1861. It conjures the Confederacy, war, and a cause Texans rightly reject. Independence is the word the world uses when a people choose to govern themselves. Scotland held an independence referendum. Britain pursued independence from the European Union. The 140-plus nations that have become self-governing since 1945 declared independence. None of them called it secession, because secession is not what self-determination is.

Texas is restoring something, not inventing it

Texas was a free and independent nation before it joined the union in 1845. The language the Texas Nationalist Movement has always used is that Texas would "reassert its status as an independent nation." That is restoration, not rebellion. The Texas Constitution itself, in Article 1, Section 1, still describes Texas as "a free and independent State." We are talking about reclaiming sovereignty Texas already exercised, not creating something from nothing.

The framing is a trap, and we decline it

When opponents insist on the word "secession," they are not making a legal point. They are trying to attach the worst chapter of American history to a peaceful vote. Accepting their word means accepting their frame. So we use the precise term. Texas independence. It is honest, it is historically correct, and it refuses the smear built into the alternative.

Why you will still see "secede" in some of our answers

In a handful of places, including parts of this FAQ, you will see the words "secede" and "secession." That is deliberate and narrow. When someone types "can Texas legally secede" into a search engine, or throws "the Civil War settled secession" across a dinner table, we have to meet them in their own words before we reframe. Speaking the skeptic's language to win the skeptic is not the same as adopting it as our own.

The bottom line

This is independence. It is the same right exercised by free people the world over, and Texans have exercised it before.