We often talk about growing Missouri in abstract ways. We want to grow the economy, grow the tax base, grow the number of gigantic waterfalls. But I think we should try to grow Missouri in a more literal way by simply taking land and people from Illinois.
There is a part of Illinois that may actually be interested. On election day, voters in seven Illinois counties approved a referendum (non-binding, obviously) on seceding from Illinois and creating a new state without Chicago. This makes a total of 33 counties that have passed this Illinois Separation Referendum, as it is called. Twenty seven of these counties either border Missouri or can be connected to Missouri by other counties that have also passed the referendum. Five more counties could connect to Missouri if just two more counties pass it, too. (One county, Iroquois County in northeast Illinois, is going to have to look toward Indiana.)
While the referendum calls for leaving the current state of Illinois to create a new state, like the West Virginia model that I assume they are following, I think Missouri needs to get aggressive here. In the same way that President Trump could embrace destiny by acquiring Greenland, I think Governor-elect Kehoe should take that approach as well.
Territorial switches between states are rare, with Maine and West Virginia being the two most famous examples. North and South Carolina made a very minor land exchange as recently as 2017. The last time Missouri made a territory change was 1950, when Missouri and Kansas exchanged some land after flooding along the Missouri River border. The primary expansion of Missouri territory after statehood was the Platte Purchase, which added our six northwest counties to the state. However, that land was ceded from unorganized territory, not another state.
So, let’s get this done, Missouri! Let’s grow our state’s territory and population the old-fashioned way—by taking it from someone else! (Though we’ll do it peacefully, of course.)
