In view of our desire for freedom from the persistant meddling by state officials in city affairs, in particular the harassment of our citizens and our municipal police by the so-called "Metropolitan Police," I, Fernando Wood, hereby declare our city a free and independent state to be named Tri-Insula. If President Lincoln considers this an act of war, then the state of Tri-Insula shall declare war upon the United States of America, to claim her independence. No longer must our children be called upon to crush the legitimate struggles of other diseffected peoples striving for their own independence from the forces of tyranny.
