As America goes to celebrate its independence tomorrow, another nation is getting ready to do that itself in just a few days. On July 9, the nation of Sudan will split in two: The Republic of Sudan in the north, and the Republic of South Sudan in the…well, south. Earlier this year, over 98% of the electorate in the south portion of Sudan voted ‘yes’ on a referendum on whether the country ought to be split. The referendum came after the bloody 22-year long Second Sudanese Civil War.

The people of South Sudan knew that they’d never be able to reconcile with their government, and so elected to pave their own path. And they are lucky to be able to do so. Most independence attempts like this don’t receive quite as much international attention, and even when they do they’re not always successful, as in Kosovo.

The south’s independence success is an example of something that happens only every so often: a people able to determine their own way by making a completely new way. This idea isn’t new. It’s happened time and again throughout history, but in modernity it really started taking hold with the independence of the United States in 1776. It’s happened a lot since then, with varying levels of success.

“The Will of the People” (I was going to use ‘popular sovereignty’ as the title before I considered its pre-Civil War connotations) doesn’t necessarily mean separation, though. Most importantly it means that one’s government needs to listen to and follow the instructions of its citizens. Independence is just an extreme means to resolve the problem that occurs when the government doesn’t listen to those instructions.

While I don’t think independence is an option that should be explored without much prior effort, I strongly support it on a case-by-case basis. I believe that sometimes differences are just irreconcilable. In that case separation is the best option to maintain peace. And that was probably the best solution for Sudan.