Editing Free State Project (section)

==History==
The Free State Project was founded in 2001 by [[Jason Sorens]], then a Ph.D. student at [[Yale University]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Clow|first=Larry|url=http://www.wirenh.com/Features/Cover_Story/the_Free_State_turns_two_20051005785.html |title=The Free State turns two|publisher=The Wire |date=October 5, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720163336/http://www.wirenh.com/Features/Cover_Story/the_Free_State_turns_two_20051005785.html |archive-date=July 20, 2008 }}</ref> Sorens published an article in ''[[The Libertarian Enterprise]]'' highlighting the failure of libertarians to elect any candidate to federal office and outlining his ideas for a [[secession]]ist movement, calling people to respond to him with interest.<ref name="tlesoren">{{cite journal|last=Sorens|first=Jason|url=http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe131-20010723-03.html|title=Announcement: The Free State Project|journal=The Libertarian Enterprise|volume=131|date=July 23, 2001|access-date=March 1, 2009|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025934/https://ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe131-20010723-03.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sorens soon published a follow-up article<ref name="sorensfollowup">{{cite journal|last=Sorens|first=Jason|url=http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe133-20010806-02.html|title=Update: Free State Project|journal=The Libertarian Enterprise|volume=132|date=August 6, 2001|access-date=January 1, 2013|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621132321/https://ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe133-20010806-02.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> backing away from secession, "and it never played a role in the FSP’s philosophy from then on."<ref name="fsphistory">{{cite web|title=The Early Years of the Free State Project|url=https://www.fsp.org/history/|publisher=Free State Project|access-date=June 7, 2018|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021120/https://www.fsp.org/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sorens has stated that the movement continues an American tradition of political migration, which includes groups such as [[Mormon]] settlers in [[Utah]], [[Amish]] religious communities,<ref name="guardian">{{cite web |author=Walters |first=Joanna |date=October 1, 2003 |title=Free staters pick New Hampshire to liberate for sex, guns and drugs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/01/usa.joannawalters |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> and the "Jamestown Seventy",<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=yrlsa |first1=James F.|last1=Blumstein |first2=James|last2=Phelan|title=Jamestown Seventy|date=1971|journal=[[Yale Review of Law and Social Action]]|volume=1|issue=1}}</ref> an earlier effort to influence the politics of a particular state through deliberate migration.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Libertarian Enterprise|volume=132|date=August 6, 2001|title=Update: Free State Project|last=Sorens|first=Jason|url=http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe133-20010806-02.html|access-date=January 1, 2013|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621132321/https://ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe133-20010806-02.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The organization began without a specific state in mind. A systematic review started by narrowing potential states to those with a population of less than 1.5 million, and those where the combined spending in 2000 by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] parties was less than the total national spending by the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] in that year, $5.2 million. [[Hawaii]] and [[Rhode Island]] were eliminated from this list because of their propensity for centralized government.<ref>Joseph Spear, [http://www.libarts.ucok.edu/opsa/OPSR/Journal%20Vol5-Number1/4-Student%20Contri%20butions.pdf "An Experiment in Civic Engagement: The Free State Project"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325044314/http://www.libarts.ucok.edu/opsa/OPSR/Journal%20Vol5-Number1/4-Student%20Contri%20butions.pdf |date=March 25, 2009}}, ''Oklahoma Policy Studies Review'', Vol. 5, No. 1.</ref>

In September 2003, a vote was held, and participants voted using the [[minimax Condorcet method]] to choose the state that they were to move to.<ref name="upandcoming">{{cite magazine |last=Camp |first=Pete |url=http://old.freestateproject.org/archives/state_vote/FSP-ECL-CertifyWhitePaper.htm |title=Free State Project Picks New Hampshire|date=October 8, 2003 |magazine=Up & Coming Magazine|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140423020956/http://old.freestateproject.org/archives/state_vote/FSP-ECL-CertifyWhitePaper.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Europe/Condorcet_Method |title=OLPC Europe/Condorcet Method|website=wiki.laptop.org}}</ref> New Hampshire was the winner, with [[Wyoming]] coming in second by a 57% to 43% margin.<ref name="upandcoming" /><ref name="cspan">{{cite AV media|people= |date=October 1, 2003|title=Free State Project Announcement|trans-title= |medium=Motion picture|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?178464-1/free-state-project-announcement |access-date=February 7, 2021|publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |id=178464-1 }}</ref> [[Alaska]], [[Delaware]], [[Idaho]], [[Maine]], [[Montana]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]] and [[Vermont]] were also on the list.<ref name="guardian"/> New Hampshire was chosen because the perceived individualist culture of the state was thought to resonate well with libertarian ideals.<ref name="boston"/>

In 2004, following the selection of New Hampshire, a splinter group{{Citation needed|reason=Statement disagrees with associated source|date=September 2021}} called the Free Town Project formed to move to the small town of [[Grafton, New Hampshire|Grafton]] and advocate for legal changes there.<ref name="vox">{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21534416/free-state-project-new-hampshire-libertarians-matthew-hongoltz-hetling |title=How a New Hampshire libertarian utopia was foiled by bears|date=December 10, 2020|publisher=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]|last=Illing|first=Sean}}</ref> Grafton's appeal as a favorable destination was due to its absence of [[zoning laws]] and a very low [[property tax]] rate.<ref name="grafton">{{cite web|url=https://www.nhes.nh.gov/elmi/products/cp/profiles-htm/grafton.htm |title=Community Profiles: Grafton, NH|access-date=February 8, 2021}}</ref> Additionally, it was the home of [[John Babiarz]], a prominent member of the [[Libertarian Party of New Hampshire|Libertarian Party]] who had twice run for [[Governor of New Hampshire|Governor]].<ref name="atavist">{{cite magazine|last1=Hongoltz-Hetling|first1=Matthew|author1-link=Matt Hongoltz-Hetling|title=Barbearians at the Gate: A journey through a quixotic New Hampshire town teeming with libertarians, fake news, guns, and—possibly—furry invaders|url=https://magazine.atavist.com/barbearians-at-the-gate-new-hampshire-libertarians-fake-news |magazine=Atavist|access-date=June 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616130203/https://magazine.atavist.com/barbearians-at-the-gate-new-hampshire-libertarians-fake-news/ |archive-date=June 16, 2018|date=May 2018|url-status=live|issue=79}}</ref> Though no records were kept of the number of Free Town Project participants who moved to Grafton, the town's population grew from 1,138 in 2000 to 1,340 in 2010.<ref name="grafton"/>  Nearly all of the newcomers were men.<ref name="newrepublic" />  Project participants fashioned homes out of [[yurt]]s, recreational vehicles, trailers, tents, and [[Shipping container architecture|shipping containers]]. The changes they voted in included a 30% reduction in the town's already-small budget,<ref name="newrepublic" /> denying funding to the county's senior-citizens council.<ref name="atavist"/>  The libertarian newcomers additionally increased the city's costs by filing [[Test case (law)|lawsuits]] against it in an attempt to set legal precedents.<ref name="newrepublic" />  The project has been associated with an increase in the number and aggressiveness of [[American black bear|black bears]] in town, including entering homes, mauling people, and eating pets.<ref name="newrepublic" />  A single, definitive cause for the abnormal behavior of the bears has not been proven, but it may be due to libertarian residents who refuse to buy and use [[Bear-resistant food storage container|bear-resistant containers]], who do not dispose of waste materials (such as [[feces]]) safely, or who deliberately put out food to attract the bears to their own yards, but do not feel any responsibility for how their behavior affects their neighbors.<ref name="newrepublic" />

=== Free Town Project ===
{{Main|Grafton, New Hampshire#Free Town Project}}
In 2005, members of the Free Town Project were also briefly involved with [[Mentone, Texas]]. Mentone is in [[Loving County, Texas|Loving County]], at the time the [[County statistics of the United States#Nationwide population extremes|least populous county]] in the United States.<ref name="nytimes_mentone">{{cite news|last1=Blumenthal |first1=Ralph |title=1 Cafe, 1 Gas Station, 2 Roads: America's Emptiest County|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/us/1-cafe-1-gas-station-2-roads-americas-emptiest-county.html |access-date=June 16, 2021 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904161123/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/us/1-cafe-1-gas-station-2-roads-americas-emptiest-county.html |archive-date=September 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Three men, Lawrence Pendarvis, Bobby Emory, and Don Duncan, claimed to have bought 126 acres (51 ha) of land and registered to vote there,<ref name="freetownproject">{{Cite web|url=http://freetownproject.com/ |title=FreeTownProject.com|access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-date=August 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806025906/http://freetownproject.com/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> although the sheriff determined that the land was not sold to the group, as no deed had been filed at the county courthouse. He contacted the sellers, who said that the land had been sold to other buyers, after which the sheriff filed misdemeanor charges against the three men and threatened to arrest them if they returned.<ref name="nytimes_mentone"/>

On February 3, 2016, the Free State Project announced via social media that 20,000 people had signed the Statement of Intent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Free State Project|publisher=[[Twitter]]|date=February 2, 2016|url=https://twitter.com/FreeStateNH/status/694763068010713088 }}</ref> In a press conference later that day, then FSP president [[Carla Gericke]] officially announced that the move had been triggered and that signers were expected to follow up on their pledge.<ref name="presscon">{{cite web|url=https://freestateproject.org/blogs/free-state-project-officially-announces-20000-signers-100-reached |website=Freestateproject.org|date=February 3, 2016|title=Official press conference announcing success in reaching 20,000 members|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208051605/https://freestateproject.org/blogs/free-state-project-officially-announces-20000-signers-100-reached |archive-date=December 8, 2016}}</ref> This concluded the Free Town Project,<ref name="vox"/><ref name="book">{{cite book|last=Hongoltz-Hetling|first=Matthew|author-link=Matt Hongoltz-Hetling|date=September 15, 2020|title=A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears)|url=https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/matthew-hongoltz-hetling/a-libertarian-walks-into-a-bear/9781541788510/ |publisher=[[PublicAffairs]]|isbn=978-1541788510|chapter=Book 3, Chapter 9: An Experiment Ends|quote="The same Trigger that birthed the Free State was a death knell for the Free Town... After years in which Grafton was the most visible and important landing point in the world for those who wanted to create a libertarian utopia, in the post-Trigger era, it became just another town in a state with many options."}}</ref> and the Free State Project organization changed focus from recruiting signers to encouraging them to move to New Hampshire, stating "we want 20,000 movers".<ref name="presscon" />