by Peter Mertz
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- In 1941, a small group of right wing forces carrying rifles stopped traffic in Northern California and told locals they were splintering off to become a new American state, yet World War II erupted months later, which stifled the movement.
Today, almost 80 years later, the movement has revived and is gaining ground rapidly. "The most recent attempts by right wing forces to divide California are much more ambitious than previous efforts," said San Francisco businessman Glenn Nemhauser.
"With (American President Donald) Trump in office, they regarded themselves as invincible," he said.
Last week's announcement that "New California" will take about 90 percent of California's 423,970 square kilometers and leave only a narrow strip of oceanfront land between Los Angeles and San Francisco was not well received in the giant Pacific Coast state.
California is considered America's most liberal state, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton defeated Trump here in 2016 by an 8.5 million to 4.4 million vote landslide.
In 2013, a similar movement sought to occupy a certain area of northern California counties as well as southern Oregon to complete efforts started by conservatives almost 80 years ago, calling for the creation of "The State of Jefferson."
"It was a big surprise driving down the coast of Oregon and seeing the signs... It was like I had entered the Twilight Zone," said Justin Blanke, a retired Coast Guard officer.
Blanke, now commanding smaller vessels on America's East Coast, told Xinhua how he was shocked to see the signs and surprised to learn the separatist effort named after one of the country's most prominent presidents.
Thomas Jefferson, author of America's defining document The Declaration of Independence, is considered one of the greatest U.S. presidents. Jefferson motivated American colonists to break from Britain and form a new nation guided by the ideals of democracy, republicanism and individual rights.
"The current state of California has become governed by a tyranny," said Robert Paul Preston, vice chairman of the New California group that hopes to convince 43 of California's 58 counties to join in the mutiny and form the first "new" state.
"After years of over taxation, regulation, and mono-party politics, the State of California and many of its 58 counties have become ungovernable," New California said in a statement.
The group cited its purpose as responding responsibly to a "decline in essential basic services" including education, law enforcement, infrastructure and health care.
With 39.3 million people, California is America's most populous state and leading agricultural state producing more than 400 commodities, with a value of more than 43.5 billion U.S. dollars.
Last Tuesday, the New California state movement announced its first of 40 proposed grievances against the government of California, a big "first step" they hope will lead to ballot initiatives this November.
"Article 4, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution allows an aspiring 51st state to convince its legislature to split the state before submitting the resolution to Congress," history professor Stewart King told Xinhua.
King, a U.S. State Department official in West Africa and the Caribbean, sees the movement as a long shot.
"Urban legislators in California might be willing to go for this so they could get rid of the Republican opposition, but I imagine they'd need some policy concessions (on public lands, water rights, pollution) and maybe a statewide vote first," he said.
A similar movement in 2013 attracted 21 northern California counties who approved or sent declarations to the State of California with their intent to form the State of Jefferson.
The population of the 21 (of 58) California counties was 1,747,626 as of the 2010 U.S. Census, which would be 39th most populous state in the Union.
In 2014, California venture capitalist Tim Draper sought to split the Golden State into six parts, including the "State of Silicon Valley." Yet it failed to make the ballot.
New California's work with regular California's state legislature won't likely start in earnest until later this year or early next year. "We have to demonstrate that we can govern ourselves before we are allowed to govern," organizers told CBS.
