What If the USA Broke Up 

"Hawaii's remote location means no one would want to attack it" *Japan enters the chat*

As an Alaskan, if the US ever broke apart and we were on our own, we would most likely instantly be invaded and taken over by Russia.

This is a cool thought project. I feel like realistically if the US broke up it would end up in regions rather that individual states

As an Iowan I need to tell you that it isn't truly land locked. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers make up 2 of our borders which give our state its shape. :)

I feel like it's more likely the US will break up into 4 or 5 different regions based on common interests, resource sharing, economic reasons, and political alignments.

California, Texas, and Florida can definitely function as their own country

I could see multiple states align with each other just so they can have access either to the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, or the Atlantic.

If trump wins the election again, I will leave the United States If Biden wins the election again, I will leave the United States This is not a political post, I just want to travel

Much of the US was setup with the intention of remaining in the union - with the exception of the original 13 since they were still trying to figure out the relationship between the states and federal government. If the US were to break apart today, it ls likely certain regions would group together for practical reasons like shipping access and watershed management. For example, I could see the great plains states joining together to retain access to the Mississippi/Red/Missouri river systems for exports and management of their shared aquafer. I could also see regions with similar political views and culture joining together as well. Instead of 50 countries, perhaps it might be more like 10-15 at most.

If a split happens, it won't be 50 individual countries. It would be alliances of ideologically and economically similar states. You'd probably see the Northeast either with Maryland or North Carolina as the southernmost state (depending where North Carolina fell). The Southeast and Rustbelt which would likely overlap with some of the landlocked states. You'd then have the west coast, with likely a surprising amount of those neighboring states trying to latch onto California because money talks. The only state I could see trying to be completely independent would be Texas, and that is more because it's kind of what they've been trying to do forever.

Fun fact! Tulsa, Oklahoma has the furthest inland port in the country at the Port of Catoosa!

One major thing you forgot, is Minnesota is one of the largest exporters of Iron Ore in the United States. This significantly boosts the economy for the long haul, and is critical to any infrastructure.

I read a novel 40 years ago or so where the US had broken up into separate countries and CA had broken up into two countries and were always at war with each other. It actually was an interesting book and the fact the US had broken up was a relatively minor plot point.

"What if USA broke up?" It would need some serious couples therapy after that.

The thing is, Minnesota also has the Minntac Surface Mine, it’s one of the largest mining operations in the former US, Minnesota also holds more than 90% of the iron mined for the former US for the past 50 years, so Minnesota is possibly going to have a good economy because of trades of iron as well

I believe that if the union collapsed states would group together and form new regional unions. Those new regional unions would probably form strong ties and possibly create a new more decentralized United States.

As a Californian, Id like to bring up the water problems we have. Wouldn’t be too bad once we get desalination plants up and running, but could be a rough first few years. Over all, the only changes we would likely notice is a bit more water regulation at first.

I could see a group of states that are on the same page politically and economically joining together and forming their own nation.

As a Virginian, I find your analysis of the state interesting. What is your reasoning for VA acquiring DC over MD? Geographically its easier for MD to take/defend. However VA does have a strategic edge over MD (and a lot of other states) for 1 main reason: Norfolk. As the base of the Atlantic fleet, VA would have one (if not the) largest Navys of the new countries and control the mouth of the Chesapeake bay, one of the most important waterways in the former US. That alone would push it up a few slots, probably pretty close to 10th or low teens at worse.

I’m still baffled at the size and diversity of culture and ethnicity in the US.

"There is nothing can stop it if the former state becomes it's own country." Water would like a word with you.

Yes let’s ignore the long-standing rivalry between Michigan and Ohio likely leading to them being the first war to break out

While I realize and understand why my home state of Kentucky ranks so low, it DOES have a major waterway connecting it to several other states. The Ohio River! The entire northern border is The Ohio River which converges with The Mississippi River which then flows in to the Gulf of Mexico. Why wasn't that considered?

Fallout has some cool lore as to how the country broke up into various commonwealths (and how/why Canada was Annexed). I don’t think every single state would be it’s own thing but rather how Fallout put it.

I love the designs you did for every state that has things that are local to it and show a few city names. Definitely good graphic designer over there at info

As for Massachusetts, if they ended up becoming their own country, they would likely establish greater relations with Nova Scotia, a major player in Canada's Atlantic Provinces. With Halifax and Boston having strong relations and both cities are major regional centres with a well educated population, Nova Scotia and Massachusetts will have a very strong trading, educational, and technological relationship. Massachusetts and Nova Scotia are well known for its highly advanced post secondary education system as both jurisdictions spend a considerable amount of money on its universities and community colleges. Halifax's most well known universities like Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, and Mount St. Vincent University could establish partnerships with Boston's Harvard University, Boston University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston could also take advantage of Halifax's strategic significance as its a crossroads between Europe and Pacific North America. As an added bonus, Massachusetts and Nova Scotia residents can take advantage of each others tourism opportunities as they're home to world's most famous landmarks and attractions, notably the Peggy's Cove and Sambro Island Lighthouses just outside Halifax, or even the legendary schooner, the Bluenose.

Great video, but I have to point out one thing. Oklahoma has A LOT of oil. In fact, downtown Tulsa (my hometown) is literally sitting on a huge reservoir of oil, one of the biggest in the continental US, in fact. We also grow a sizeable amount of America's food. It's been talked about here and most of us believe what would happen is Oklahoma and Texas would combine to form an agricultural, meat, and oil powerhouse economically. So, you're partially correct; Oklahoma on its own as a country would struggle, but it's more likely we would combine with Texas as a mutually-beneficial arrangement due to the amount of meat, oil, and crops we produce and that new country would do alright.

There is a couple of things you forgot for Oklahoma. One, the Kerr/McClellan waterway (the Arkansas River) is as wide as the Mississippi in places, drains into the Mississippi, and ferries goods back and forth regularly to New Orleans via the Mississippi river. Oklahoma also produces more oil than most of the rest of the country.

A big problem with using GDP per capita to determine wealth is that cost of living varies greatly from state to state. Making $80,000 in California may get you as much as $40,000 in Mississippi

“Kentucky is not near any major waterway.” The Ohio River is the entire northern border of Kentucky.

Then the US will make a RU-vid video called “We broke up 😢“

In all honesty, I'm kind of surprised that Michigan is so low. I mean, yes, there are some issues with the state. Still though, how the Dakotas and Nebraska rank higher is beyond me.

One thing I think your missing is lots of people would move to other areas. Not everything is about money… I would be heading to Montana or Wyoming (born and raised) because both of these states would love to have the heavy hand of the feds gone …

You have to take into account the cutting-off of any federal income (benefits, taxes, etc.). A lot of people who depended on those benefits suddenly being cut off would not be good.

Okay as a person who lives in Connecticut, I know the country would be small and not well known. But I guess they could make an alliance with New York, but the other states would take it down due to them being much larger.

i think alaska would quickly join canada or be taken by russia. California would grow and take states on the coast and go east until hitting texan regions. We'd see a floridian nation of a few states up to tennesee or so, east coast would be the messiest region i think.

Makes me grateful we are united-better easier and stronger together, than more difficult and weaker apart.

Michigan is WAY low on the list. It should easily be top 10 with its ability to control large amounts of the great lakes and drinking water in the region. Theres also still large amounts of unmined iron and copper deposits and massive salt deposits under detroit that would be useful exports.

Listening to the countdown, it didn’t take long to hear this one go off the rails. At 48, he said, KY has no access to major waterways, well it has more navigable waterways than all states except Alaska, and directly with the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, where they can export coal ( not mentioned herein) as the nation’s third largest coal producing state, after Wyoming and West Virginia. So, if you miss the large coal production, while mentioning it as a positive for other states, and miss the second largest navigable waterways, maybe this entire list is flawed.

Indiana also has access to Lake Michigan, and the Ohio River which gives it access, ultimately, to the Mississippi and therefore the Atlantic ocean. We also have significantly better relationships with our neighbors than Illinois, which is basically loathed by everyone in the region.

Sometimes I wonder about the research put in to some of these. “Kentucky not on any major waterways”. Have you seen the entire northern border? Not to mention it touches the Mississippi River too.

The State of Missouri has access to the 2 longest and biggest rivers in North America. The Missouri is the longest and the Mississippi is 2nd. Not to mention wheat, barley, livestock and other crops.

Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri may be land locked, but the Missouri River is navigable up to Omaha/Council Bluff and barges used to ply it for as much of the year as it isn't frozen over.

Kentucky isn't near any major waterways? It literally borders both the Ohio River and a small piece of the Mississippi

Not to forget to mention that Colorado controls most of the head waters for the Colorado river, which means we control the water source for most of the southwest

As an Irish Canadian, I would love 2 see a united states of North America that is similar to the EU in my lifetime with all the states/ provinces as separate countries would be awesome.

I'm really surprised Oregon made it so high most people tend to over look it

POV : Your waiting for your state

i heard a fact that the average nation lasts 250 years, and america is turning 246

The main issue with all the statistics in this video is that they're relevant in a united USA. Separately the situation would be vastly different. Each country will need to make massive adjustments when they can no longer rely on the cooperation of their neighbors and of course the federal government. Moreover this situation is completely unrealistic as if the USA will split it won't be into 50 individual state but rather a handful of republics with proper geography separating them rather than some of the current state borders which are purely political and often makes no geographic sense whatsoever.

What about the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and other unincorporated territories?

Lets just stick together, we can work this thing out. We have a lot more in common than we are different. We would hate each other a lot less if we stopped consuming so much digital media and started going outside and meeting real people.

As a person who lives in Wisconsin, you tell me why I don’t like cheese. Plot twist: you can’t. I love cheese.

Maryland would *DEFINITELY* get Washington DC, not Virginia. Virginia already reclaimed their side of the Potomac River and made it into Arlington, VA. It militarily makes no sense for them to gain a tiny sliver of land across the river. Maryland is also home to the Naval Academy and many forts/strongholds remaining from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War so they’re no pushover.

Kentucky does have all that gold in Fort Knox and has the Ohio river which could be used to transport goods to any other states on the river, and it leads to the ocean. I think if they used their resources well, they would be better off than you think.

Happy Independence Day 🇺🇸 everyone !! Hope you have a great day with friends and family ! God bless the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ! 😘

As a Pennsylvanian I would like to point out the fact Pa has a very large oil reserve of "green" oil (meaning low sulfur). Where do you think the oil brands Pennzoil and Quaker State started (along with wolfs head motor oils). We also have a nice budding green energy industry with the wind farms in Somerset and access to the great lakes and the Atlantic ocean. Bring in New York and New Jersey...life would be good

It’s weird when mentioning Michigan they say it’s federally dependent but don’t mention that in New Mexico which constantly ranks as the most federally dependent state in the union with most of of the rest of the list being the south and Appalachia

This is what l think will happen in some form in the future. Not 50 separate states but several regions. The problems this country has now which separates us politically, culturally, economically, etc and irreconcilable and l think this will be the final result and solution for the political tumult we’re experiencing in the present.

You’ve hugely undersold Virginia. Virginia has a little bit of everything and would be a powerhouse. Definitely top 5. 17 is insane.

I’ve always thought that the Democratic States of America and the Republican States of America would be a great idea. It won’t solve everything but at least half the country isn’t upset with every single decision

If the country broke up it would break into regions with many states sticking together. California, Washington, and Oregon would probably form a west coast country. New England states would stick together. Most of the southern states would stick together. Texas would do it’s own thing. Colorado and New Mexico could join up

Cost of living is a big thing he doesnt really talk about here

"What if the USA broke up?" the Russian dream...

Tennessee Would technically be sorta dangerous due to the fact tennessee holds oak ridge witch holds bombs etc

They forgot that Washington also has a ton of military bases. There is also Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, and tons of tech industries. Oh, and Starbucks. Which means if other states want coffee while they watch a movie on their laptop in a plane, they'd have to go through Washington. :)

I’m from Connecticut. I’ve heard, on multiple occasions, people here saying we should invade and annex Rhode Island. And the US hasn’t broken apart yet. So if it does, Rhode Island absolutely should watch it’s back.

You missed a lot in Utah. Oddly Las Vegas buys a lot of water from Utah, and would need to do so in order to continue. We also have the Tooele (two will ah) army depot or Dugway, where the United States currently keeps massive stocks of both traditional weapons and ammo, and chemical weapons awaiting destruction. Hill air force base would provide a small amount of additional military supplies. Its real benefit is the military logistics centers, and access to Lockheed Martin at Hill. Tech companies are the main sources of business making it very desirable to remain a good trading partner. Utah is sitting on top of some of the nations largest untapped oil reserves, as well as metals like copper, and silver that haven’t been tapped because they are in national parks. Lastly the terrain in Utah heavily favors the defenders. Any approach to the main population centers would require you to travel through long winding narrow canyons. During the Mormon wars this terrain was used to force negations. When the army was finally allowed to come in they were worried enough about the potential for conflict that the commander setup his base miles from any settlement.

The thought of the U.S.A breaking up makes me sick to my stomach.

It’s nice to see what every state brings to the table. I’m just glad we can all be friends on the same team🤓

Regardless of how the states break up, if it does happen i imagine huge wars would break out between different regions based on historical beefs the different regions have always had, us being united is probably the only thing keeping that from happening at least for now

California being number 1 is fun since the second you stop pumping water into the state it would immediately turn back into a massive desert

Ohio river is actually mostly in Kentucky, largest city sits at the falls of the Ohio, allowing some transportation and economic advantage.

I feel like Ohio would be much higher on the list.

I love your videos, but there are a lot of errors that seem to slip through into the final versions. In this one, you said Washington is bordered by Oregon and Montana, the title for #25 displayed 10 seconds early while you were still discussing #26, you spelled "dairy" as "diary", one entry said "GPD" instead of "GDP" - the production values are so good, but the frequency of errors in your videos makes viewers question the quality of your research. You may want to invest in a quality control analyst to catch these issues before the videos are posted.

the major crops your listing are the ones that are subsidized by the government if the states were independent they would probably pick more efficient and more useful crops or whatever crops the state tries to subsidize.

Good video, couple notes about South Dakota though. We do have a water way, the state is split in half by the Missouri river. Also we have quite a bit of beef production, not as much as Nebraska obviously, but I think we could hold our own pretty well.

The West Coast would band together

i love the detail they put into each state, im from portland i was able to name out every skyscraper. because they did that good at making it.

You seem to have forgotten about the Ohio river and all the states that touch it, then the Mississippi river, then on to the gulf of Mexico. It would likely become a global shipping channel for all those along it. Although it would likely give rise to piracy along the water way.

I don't think you gave Tennessee enough credit. It has the fastest growing GDP in the country.

Missed the boat on North Dakota. Got oil, got agriculture, and military strength. We'd be just fine.

They knew exactly what they’re doing releasing this today.

Imagine Florida as an independent country.

A better perspective might be to look how regional states might combine into 3-6 countries, not 50 countries.

Definitely regional unions would form but I don’t think a civil war will be starting out with secession it’ll be an multi polar insurgency with secessionist elements not so neat and clean or clearly defined borders or factions.

Assuming each country had what currently resides within its boundaries when they broke up... I would think Kentucky, having Fort Knox and the majority of the US gold reserves would be in a better position than 47th.

A few problems with this (oversimplified) analysis- 1. If everyone in the upper midwest is growing corn and soy, there will be a market glut, prices will crash and the outter states in that area will not allow the inners to ship through. 2. Military bases are only good for the first few weeks at most. Most of the soldiers are from other 'nations' and the vehicles take a LOT of petrol. Planes and tanks are all but out, so all you have are a few hand guns and some land. 3. Anyone that makes money from federal government services will be out of work. 4. Anyone that benefits from federal government programs will be sunk- welfare, health care, disaster aid (!), common defense. 5. Transportation will be toast. Why would Louisiana, Missouri, etc allow anyone to transit their nation without HUGE payments? Or any nation with rail lines? Time to drive the herd to the national boundary and try to cut a deal.

We're already (ideologically and culturally) two different countries. Red and Blue states. Geography doesn't allow for two contiguous countries, but I get they feeling we'd split in two if we could these days...

Yeah, Water would be an issue for California (at least Southern California) but it's raw economic might would ensure that it doesn't remain any more of an issue than it already is... at least until desalination plants or expansion make it unnecessary.

You forget iowa has a river on two of its borders and already makes enough food to feed the entire us

28:28 you dont have to register gus at all. thats what anti guns states do. those numbers are for carry permits. guns people buy are way more then that

Virginia having Norfolk, the pentagon, FBI and CIA, DARPA, CISA, Marshals and a whole bunch of other key agencies cannot be understated.

I feel like Alaska being so isolated would probably leave them vulnerable to an invasion from Russia. If Alaska fell, would Russia stop there? Would a California, Oregon and Washington alliance be formed with Canada to thwart any further expansion?

How did you just conveniently forget that Kentucky has fort Knox and almost the entirety of the US army's armored brigades. So all the tanks armored vehicles, anti tank systems etc etc. Are all based there. So if Kentucky became a state, they would be one super heavily armed state. Not to mention the fact that they got all that gold in the vault. Who's going to come take it? Especially since it's in the middle of the base with all the tanks I was talking about.

As someone who lives in North Carolina I'm glad to know our economy consists of ciggerates and health equipent

California nothing can stop it.... San Andrés enters the chat. Lol

Fun fact: Oklahoma hasn’t had many notable tornadoes in recent years

16:41 "Number 22 - Colorado" *displays picture of Lake Morraine in Alberta, Canada*

Great video mate love your stuff. But the one thing I noticed you didn't mention about Cali is what happens if all the other countries it gets fresh water from say no water. Hard to be number 1 if you got no drinkable water