Arizona's previous split

Arizona's been talking a lot lately about splitting into two states: dividing north-south. In the Civil War era, Arizona (and New Mexico) went through a similar north-south division. When the Union failed to keep mail service going, the southern part of the Arizona territory got miffed and decided to slice itself off and align with the Confederacy. (Northerners apparently weren't so outraged.) Southern Arizonans didn't want slaves, they just wanted somebody to deliver the dang mail--which the Confederacy promised to do. To our modern eyes, it might seem like a silly reason to switch loyalties, but take away WiFi today and you might see a similar revolt. Zoom in on the map above and you can see the actual mail road that was shut down.