And in fact, two states have been formed since 1789 by a legally approved secession process from an existing state. In 1820, Maine was created as a state independent of Massachusetts, as part of the Missouri compromise.
In 1863 West Virginia became a state during the Civil War under unusual circumstances, after a Union-approved government was named for Virginia, from which West Virginia then seceded. (Tennessee also joined the Union in 1796 as a former part of North Carolina, but it was considered a government territory for an interim period.)
The constitutional barrier for splitting a state, based on those facts, seems steeper than even creating new amendments. If you are keeping score at home, there have been 17 amendments passed since 1789, and two states directly formed from other states.
The most-significant barrier is political as well as constitutional. As we’ve documented before in the cases of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia possibly seeking statehood, the addition of one new state to the Union creates two new Senators and at least some new Representatives in the House.
With the balance of power so close in Congress, a compromise would need to be reached to admit an equal number of Democrats and Republicans as new members.
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