A number of years ago, some Texans told me about their state’s unique ability to secede from the United States based upon a clause in the act of Congress approving its admission to the union. I repeated this to my daughter recently as we discussed the secession petition currently being circulated in Texas. That piqued my interest, so I dug a little deeper.

Apparently, this is a modern myth. The joint resolution of the legislatures of the United States and Republic of Texas is available online at a number of sites, including www.lsjunction.com/docs/annex.htm.

Nowhere does it give Texas the right to secede.

It is unique, however, in that Texas is allowed to subdivide into as many as five separate states. So, the resolution gives the citizens of Texas the right to secede from Texas and form another state, but not to secede from the United States.

It is also worth noting that 120,000 signatures constitutes less than one-half of 1 percent of Texas’ population. The petition is not yet a resounding mandate.