The phrase “We the people” has taken on a whole new meaning recently. President Obama’s administration set up an online petition website with the title “We The People,” where people can create a petition for the White House to review their concerns.

Before this year’s election, petitions ranged from issues of legalizing marijuana to a White House beer recipe. When looking at some of the petitions on the “We The People” website, many seem ridiculous. But then again, many bring important values into question.

As of Thursday, all 50 states have now created petitions to secede from the United States through the “We The People” online petition website. Some petitions have a significant number of signatures, enough to evoke a response from the White House.

Although many are saying these secession petitions should not be taken seriously, it is still important to note that people have an option and are fighting to be heard. People are making a statement. A statement that they are not happy.

There are also those at the other extreme of this opinion, petitioning to revoke the citizenship of and “peacefully deport” those who have signed the secession petitions.

How has our country become so divided? A building tension seems to have reached its breaking point with this past election between Gov. Romney and President Obama.

Is history repeating itself? Is there a chance that our country will see a divide like it did during the Civil War between the Union and the Confederate States? Slavery was the prominent issue back then that caused the separation, but what is the ultimate cause of today’s desire to secede?

Because of the timing of these petitions, many are attributing it to the re-election of President Obama. But perhaps it is not so much his re-election that caused the desire to secede. Instead, it seems as though people are simply expressing their frustration through a new medium.

When thinking seriously about the idea of secession, most states would probably see they could not stand on their own. These petitions are the voices of people who are unhappy with our country today. They are unhappy with issues like the economy. And they are expressing themselves through the extreme form of secession petitions.

Obama’s administration claims to attempt to respond to all petitions with more than 25,000 signatures. But whether or not these secession petitions get a response, we as citizens should find another way to deal with frustrations. The answer is not to run. Citizens instead should join together as the true ‘We,’ in “We The People.”

Hannah Waid is a junior majoring in English. Her column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.