Alternate Oklahoma

One of the fun, not often talked about stories in Oklahoma history is that several years before the 1907 statehood, leaders in eastern Oklahoma met in the city of Muskogee and drafted a constitution for a proposed "State of Sequoyah". The reason that this was shot down was that Congress, and President Roosevelt, feared allowing in a state that would be dominated by democrats.

So, if congress isn't in republican hands in 1905, is there a way to get statehood for sequoyah? If so, then a separate statehood for oklahoma in 1907-1910. Sequoyah would be a democratic stronghold, and oklahoma would be republican, with it's capital remaining in Guthrie.

How would this effect the future of the US, politically and culturally?

(btw, I'm putting this in the pre 1900 because it's likely that you'd need a pre-1900 pod to pull this off)
 

Blair152

Banned
One of the fun, not often talked about stories in Oklahoma history is that several years before the 1907 statehood, leaders in eastern Oklahoma met in the city of Muskogee and drafted a constitution for a proposed "State of Sequoyah". The reason that this was shot down was that Congress, and President Roosevelt, feared allowing in a state that would be dominated by democrats.

So, if congress isn't in republican hands in 1905, is there a way to get statehood for sequoyah? If so, then a separate statehood for oklahoma in 1907-1910. Sequoyah would be a democratic stronghold, and oklahoma would be republican, with it's capital remaining in Guthrie.

How would this effect the future of the US, politically and culturally?

(btw, I'm putting this in the pre 1900 because it's likely that you'd need a pre-1900 pod to pull this off)
There's a book about proposed states that never were. I can't think of the title right now.
 
The opposition in congress was more motivated by race politics then party politics. Also, and it might of been just an excuse, Congress didn't want to establish 2 states out of the Oklahoma-Indian Territories region. A democratic majority in Congress doesn't = approval of statehood. Perhaps, had the leaders of the statehood movement begun wooing Members of Congress to support their effort earlier in the process it might have happened. Or, perhaps "Oklahoma" with OTL borders and under the name Sequoyah, comes into existance a few years earlier. I understand that there was no organized drive for statehood in Oklahoma Territory at the time.
 
The opposition in congress was more motivated by race politics then party politics. Also, and it might of been just an excuse, but Congress didn't want to establish 2 states out of the Oklahoma-Indian Territories region. A democratic majority in Congress doesn't = approval of statehood. Perhaps, had the leaders of the statehood movement begun wooing Members of Congress to support their effort earlier in the process it might have happened. Or, perhaps "Oklahoma" with OTL borders and under the name Sequoyah, comes into existance a few years earlier. I understand that there was no organized drive for statehood in Oklahoma Territory at the time.
 
The opposition in congress was more motivated by race politics then party politics. Also, and it might of been just an excuse, but Congress didn't want to establish 2 states out of the Oklahoma-Indian Territories region. A democratic majority in Congress doesn't = approval of statehood. Perhaps, had the leaders of the statehood movement begun wooing Members of Congress to support their effort earlier in the process it might have happened. Or, perhaps "Oklahoma" with OTL borders and under the name Sequoyah, comes into existance a few years earlier. I understand that there was no organized drive for statehood in Oklahoma Territory at the time.

Part of the opposition WAS race politics. But not all. The republicans were in control, and they feared two new states could likely tip the balance to the democrats. They figured that they would take their chances with one state, giving the republicans in the territory more of a chance to keep control.

What happened was, the men who made the Sequoyah Constitution in 1905 were already organized, and made sure the democratic party in OK territory supported progressive reforms. Since they got them first, the republicans opposed, and were shut out of the OK constitutional convention. The democrats had control at that point. That's also why there was such a push to move the capital of the new state from Guthrie, a "republican stronghold", to OKC (and the first Governor had been the head of the Sequoyah Convention).

If the dems where to have controlled the congress in 1905...or if as you said the Sequoyahns had courted congress early on...
 
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