Challenge: The US Breaks Up Into Two Or More Separate Countries Between 1870 and Now

I have absolutely no idea how this could happen, but figured it might be an interesting thought experiment. Bonus points for single POD scenarios that don't involve defeat in one of the wars we actually fought in. More bonus points for scenarios where the breakup doesn't involve the ex-Confederate states breaking away.
 
Okay heres my crack at it:

KKK smaller seccession in Alabama and Mississipi
Or
The U.S puts tarrifs on cotton and tobbaco to punish the south post civil war, and Britian and France invade.
 
I once made a POD over a much less authoritarian USSR (named Charussia in the POD), but Charussia and the S.L. (Socialist League, ATL Warsaw Pact) go to war against China and NATO in the 1990's.
To make a long story short, the US is divided between the United Socialist States, California, and Cascadia, with a Charussian Alaska.
The POD and the TL seem kinda weak for my TL, though I believe it could of happened. If you want more info, just reply. I am a noob and I want to be somewhat known on AH.
 
I wonder if the Bush/Gore fiasco in 2000 could have led to a breakup. That's probably inviting a political firestorm, which is probably a bad idea, but what if one of the members of the Supreme Court majority on Florida got sick enough that they couldn't vote, or passed away? A deadlocked Supreme Court. All of the weirdness in Florida. No final arbitrator of who won Florida.

I'm still guessing that cooler heads would prevail. I doubt that most people considered either guy anywhere close to worth fighting a civil war for.

BTW: This is inching into politics. If it's going too far in that direction I'll delete. Sometimes there is a thin line between AH and politics and this is definitely close to the edge.
 
Imo, you'd need about 3-4 Gore-Bush like elections in a row to really start instability.

Maybe Bush wins 2004 without losing the popular vote, and then in 2008, McCain wins but Obama wins the popular vote. With three consecutive elections where the winner of the electoral vote failed to win the popular vote, the nation would be polarized, and I wouldn't be surprised if secession ended up as a result.
 
The 1918 Spanish Flu is much more virulent virtually depopulating vast sections of the United States with the East Coast especially hard hit. It might be enough that new states are formed by the survivors in various pockets of the country, especially if the federal government ceases to operate. These new countries might be influenced by foreign nations that sent aid to them at the height of the epidemic.
 
Another thought...what if the Bonus Army protests in the summer of 1932 had gotten out of hand, and the rioters violently overthrew the government with most of the main characters like President Hoover getting killed. Perhaps an army coup d'etat results in the overthrow of the rioter's provisional government and the country splits up following various factions. Pretty far-fetched but the country was in deep trouble from the depression. Fortunately, the election of 1932 released some of the discontent with the election of FDR.
 
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