by Brooklyn Mulisano

Created on: March 04, 2009

United We Stand

President Lincoln once said, "A house divided against its self cannot stand." In this essay I would like to apply that quote to the question "Would America be better off if she were divided into separate states?"

First, to put my answer into clear English; most certainly not! Now that that's out of the way let us look closer at the reasons why I feel so strongly about this topic. America's founding fathers created the union of states for a reason. And that reason is that America was-and still is- meant to be one nation under God. If any state were to succeed from the Union the result would be catastrophic. That particular state's economy would collapse sinking her and her citizens into poverty. Her defenses would be far too weak to withstand an attack of any size. As the founding fathers created the United States they created a band of sister states working together for a common goal; the first real democratic nation. If that band of sister states were ever broken it would only result in civil war and our nation would fall apart at the seams. As Aesop's saying goes, "United we stand, divided we fall."

A state's succession from the U.S. would send shock waves throughout our nation as a whole. We have all heard the witticism 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend', as Americans we have common enemies, rights, goals, and hopes and dreams. To separate over trivial things when we have so much in common would be a crippling blow not only to America, but to her allies as well.

Let us consider for a moment the example of a family going through a divorce.We have all witnessed the tragedy of a broken family. The hurt and anger the immediate family feels causes an often debilitating ripple effect that courses throughout even the most distant of family and friends. During a divorce ties are severed, sides are taken, and battles are won and lost. After this type of an event it takes many families years to recover; and some never do. So it would be for a divided nation. I can think of absolutely nothing that would justify splitting the most powerful nation on earth.

Our enemies are just waiting for something to happen that would make America vulnerable. If we separate, we become weak and give our enemies just the chance they are waiting for. We would then drown in a sea of civil war against our own brothers, and a war against our enemies simultaneously.

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