>>513854257
>states who want independence
Right.
When China's Xinhai Revolution broke out, abolishing the Qing Dynasty's end of the emperor system and moving towards a republic, our provinces, indeed, immediately went into semi-independent secession.
It eventually turned into a warlords' war where the big fish ate the little fish.
Because the centralized imperial government that ran the country collapsed, the local armies now took orders only from the provincial governors. The new president had no authority to order them at all.
The federal system of the United States did make it easier for this problem to arise, and once the federal government collapsed, the state governments immediately went independent. They don't even need to change any state laws.
When this does happen, independent states with nuclear weapons will become a very serious problem.