MARCH 31—The Middlebury Institute has announced that the Third North American Secessionist Convention will be held in Manchester, New Hampshire, on November 14-16, 2008.

Delegates are expected from a majority of the three-dozen current secessionist organizations in the United States and  Canada. As in the two previous conventions—in Burlington, Vermont, in 2006, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2007—delegations will give reports on the activities in their areas in the previous year and  trade information on strategizing, organizing, and politicking.

In previous years, participants have uniformly expressed enthusiasm for the conventions as showcases for the secessionist movement and workshops for the down-home business of spreading the secessionist message.  Both meetings issued declarations of purpose and policy, available on the website, MiddleburyInstitute.org.

One highlight of the meeting will be a presentation of the idea of an independent Atlantic federation of Canadian maritime provinces and northern New England states. The  proposal has been around for a number of years, but recently there has been renewed interest, especially in Canada, and this venue will provide a way to introduce it in this country in an impactful way.

In addition to delegates mandated by individual secessionist groups, individuals with a general interest in secession and separatism, or who might be considering organizing such a group, are invited to attend.  All who intend to attend must contact the Director@MiddleburyInstitute.org, and of course the sooner the better.

As in the past, the Middlebury Institute is willing to underwrite the travel costs for some of the mandated representatives, especially from the West, who are genuinely unable to pay their own way.

Details of the convention follow:
 
Radisson Hotel Manchester
700 Elm St.
Manchester, NH 03101
603-625-1000

Reservations: 603-206-4109, or 1-800-333-333.  A block of rooms at a special rate of $119 a night (single, double, or triple) is being held by the hotel, and individuals should indicate they are with the Third North American Secessionist Convention.  Online reservations should use the following PAC CODE: SEC08 at www.radisson.com/manchesternh.  Reservations must be made by October 24 at 12 p.m. to get this rate.

Schedule:

Friday, November 14
Registration 3 p.m. on, in Lobby. 
Cash bar 5-9 p.m.  

Saturday, November 15—
9-5 p.m., Convention, in Theater.
News conference—5-5:30 p.m.
Banquet—6:30-9:30 p.m. Frost/Hawthorne.

Manchester has a major airport.  The hotel provides transport from it and back.
 
Kirkpatrick Sale
Director, Middlebury Institute
MiddleburyInstitute.org

Secessionist Convention Schedule
 November 4, 2008

A featured speaker is Nova Scotia’s Sebastian Ronin, founder of the Novacadia Alliance.  His topic is “Post-Peak Oil and North American Regional Secession.” He will focus on the idea of an independent Atlantic federation of Canadian maritime provinces and northern New England states. Of late there is a renewed interest in the idea, especially in maritime Canada.

 Delegates are expected from a majority of the three-dozen current secessionist organizations in the U.S. and Canada, including the Alaska Independence Party and the Maine Militia’s best-selling author Carolyn Chute (The Beans of Egypt Maine). In addition to delegates from individual secessionist groups, two dozen people with a general interest in the possibilities of secession and forming new political entities, are expected. 

New Hampshire former state senator Burt Cohen (D) will speak about citizens taking power back from centralized concentrated centers of empire. Vermont Commons publisher Ian Baldwin will also address the delegates.

As in the two previous conventions—in Burlington, Vermont, in 2006, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2007—delegations will give reports on the activities in their areas in the previous year and  trade information on strategizing, organizing, and politicking.

Each of the first two conventions issued declarations of purpose and policy, available on the website, MiddleburyInstitute.org.

The convention is of course open to the media.    A press conference will be held Saturday at 5 p.m.

CONTACT:   Burt@burtcohen.com or Director@MiddleburyInstitute.org

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Secessionist convention being held in Manchester

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Groups that are interested in seceding from governments are holding a convention in Manchester (New Hampshire) today.

The third North American Secessionist Convention is expected to host delegates from most of the three-dozen current secessionist groups in the United States and Canada.

New Hampshire former state senator Burt Cohen is scheduled to speak about citizens taking power back from "centers of empire."

One highlight will be a presentation of the idea of an independent Atlantic federation of Canadian maritime provinces and northern New England states.

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Bread and Puppet livens gathering of pro-secession advocates at Statehouse
By Sally Pollak • Free Press Staff Writer • November 16, 2008
(Excerpt)
MONTPELIER -- A little levity, courtesy of the Bread and Puppet Theater, filled the Statehouse on Nov. 7.
After a morning in which speakers bemoaned the state of the U.S. -- and suggested that seceding from the union is Vermont's best hope -- a troupe of puppeteers and musicians from Glover lightened and enlivened the proceedings with music and theater in the Statehouse chambers.

"We have lame policies. We have a lame president. We have a lame Congress. And we can expect lame results," said speaker Gerald Celente of Rhinebeck, N.Y., founder of the Trends Research Institute. "We envision America breaking up the way the former Soviet Union broke up."
...Several students from Montpelier High School decided to attend the convention rather than go to school. Andrew Bullard, 17, called himself a "huge supporter" of Vermont independence.

"I'm a Vermonter, I'm not an American," Andrew said. He favors a government apparatus that is local and sustainable -- one he hopes will be accomplished in Vermont and then shared with "everyone who is willing to listen."

"As soon as people are cold and hungry, they will be willing to make the change," Andrew said. "I'm hoping for the economy to crash."

Zeke Smith, 16, of Montpelier, said the United States has become "unmanageable" and can use a major overhaul. Obama has already brought change to the country, Zeke said. But maybe not enough.
..
Naylor calls secession a "radical act of rebellion grounded in anger and fear. We got on the map in Vermont because of the anger. Vermonters really hate George W. Bush."

The separation would mean Vermonters could "disengage from the Wall Street global economy" and cease contributing tax dollars to the federal government's $700 billion bailout and its military operations, Naylor said.
...
At the convention, Naylor called on U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to resign, run for governor of Vermont, and lead the state to independence.

The senator Thursday declined the offer, saying through his spokesman thanks, but no thanks.

"Obviously I do not believe in secession," Sanders said in an e-mail. "I think, however, that in the midst of these enormously difficult problems facing the United States, the state of Vermont can and should be a leader in moving our country in a very different direction from where we have been in recent years.

"My hope is that Vermont will be the first state in the country to provide health care for all of its citizens, the leader in energy efficiency and sustainable energy, the leader in creating good-paying, environmentally sound jobs and in leading our state and country to a more peaceful world."

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 North American Secessionist Convention
November 22nd 2008 report at The Free State Observer
(Excerpt)
... Kirkpatrick Sale, director of the Middlebury Institute and organizer of the annual event, makes a point of referring to it as a *convention*, not a conference, because its attendees are delegates of various organizations, just as the First and Second Constitutional Conventions of what would become the USA were attended by representatives of various states and territories. The Middlebury Institute focuses on the study of separatism, secession and self-determination.

Report includes descriptions of talks by a delegate from the Kingdom of Hawaii; Larry Kilgore who ran for the U.S. Senate as a Texas Republican on an openly secessionist platform, garnering 19% of the vote in the party primary; Keith Humphrey spoke on behalf of the organization Christian Exodus; Cesidio Tallini, governor of Independent Long Island; Tom Moore spoke on behalf of both the Southern National Congress and the League of the South; the Alaskan Independence Party was represented by Dexter Clark; Thomas Naylor spoke on behalf of several secessionist organizations from the state of Vermont; Dennis Steele spoke briefly on behalf of the Green Mountain Brigade; for the first time Parti Quebecois sent a representative  (the party held its first referendum for independence in 1980, which failed in part due to the difficulty at that time of spreading countercultural and anti-federal government ideas. A second attempt in 1995 failed very narrowly); Robert Pritchard represented the Republic of Texas. Pritchard seeks to regain independence for the original Republic of Texas; Carolyn Chute spoke informally on behalf of the Second Maine Militia (not to be confused with the Maine Militia, a different organization); William talked about the Free State Project;  Sebastian Ronin, speaking on behalf of the Novacadia Alliance, which is comprised of the Canadian Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) as well as the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. (Newfoundland is excluded.)

The second half of the one-day convention featured a workshop led by Dexter Clark, which presented specific tactics to use to promote the idea of secession.