I decided to move some discussion from this post up to the top level here. Specifically, Watoosh wrote: "Well, if violence is defined as initiation of force (which, of course, presupposes certain property rights), then I think Rockwell is correct..." Well, if we define cats as elephants, then many people keep elephants in their house. More seriously, firstly, violence is not usually defined that way. It's defined as, you know, violence, so that, say, someone may respond violently or non-violently to someone who aggresses against them. Otherwise, it would make no sense to say, for instance, "He punched me, but I did not stoop to violence in response." And, secondly, the libertarian usage of "initiation of force" is very offbeat. If I wander onto someone's meadow, most people would not say I had "initiated force" -- I mean, sure, I used "force" against the earth to push off walking, but that's not force directed against...
Hawaii?
ReplyDeleteYes, a kingdom, however.
DeleteHawaii was a republic between 1893 and 1898 (when they were finally annexed by the U.S.)
DeleteOh, yeah, it WAS the same pattern, wasn't it, of all of the above except for Vermont: ex-pats overthrow the government, declare a republic, and then join the US.
DeleteYeah, the main difference seems to have been how long it took before the U.S. agreed to have them.
DeleteThe rest of the 13 colonies?
ReplyDeleteYou mean under the Articles?
DeleteThat's what I'm thinking. And if self-declared sovereignty is the bar, then some of Confederate states ...
DeleteYes, borderline cases. I was thinking more of "Were there any fully independent republics like Texas of which I'm not aware." I realize a good case can be made for your contention, but that wasn't really what I was after.
DeleteIroquois Confederation?
ReplyDeleteMaybe -- don't know enough about it to say if it was a republic.
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