The 124 States of America: What the USA would look like if all the secessionist movements had been successful

Mansfield University professor Andrew Shears has developed a map showing how the USA would look if the secessionist movements throughout history would have been successful

Secession is when a state tried to withdraw from the USA union and form its own political entity

The map shows America as having 124 states

Secession attempts still occur today


Imagine if all the secessionist movements in the history of the United States were successful.

Imagine if all the proposals put forward for states to withdraw from the union of the Unites States actually went ahead, how would America look today?

Those questions have been answered by a map that predicts the alternate universe of the USA based on all the threats or aspirations to secede from the United States.

The map, created by Mansfield University geogapher professor Andrew Shears, breaks the country up into 124 states.

The west and middle America: Take a look at some of the proposals for new states that have popped up over the years. California would be split into five states. Texas would become five, as well

The west and middle America: Take a look at some of the proposals for new states that have popped up over the years. California would be split into five states. Texas would become five, as well

The East: New York City and Long Island would be their own states, separate from Upstate New York, which would be called 'Empire.' Florida is split into three states and the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast becomes 'West Florida'

While some are almost laughable - such as Red Wisconsin and Blue Wisconsin, and Little Egypt - others make perfect sense, such as splitting Florida into north and south to protect Miami from the rest of the state.

Currently there's an attempt to create the State of Jefferson in north California and south Oregon.

A ballot initiative will decide whether it goes ahead in 2014.

Earlier this year, a handful of counties in Colorado tried to secede from the rest of the state.

Professor Shears said he came with the idea came from the serious possibilities at how different America could look and be today.



Now that's more like it: The 50 united states of America look simple compared to Shears' map

'Most of my life, I've daydreamed about history — not so much the incredible depth of historical events that have already occurred, good thinking as that might be,' he told The Washington Post.



'No, I've constantly fictionalized history by changing the outcome of one event here and there and exploring the possibilities of what would have come next.



'Sometimes I come up with some utterly ridiculous progressions on these alternate timelines of whole new worlds based on relatively minor changes.'

