The Constitution does begin with the phrase, "We the People...",  not
"We the States." And there is that Supremacy clause in Article VI that
makes federal law supersede state law. At the time of ratification, the
founders undoubtedly considered the states sovereign entities, but
clearly they  saw them exercising  their sovereignty in a sphere
subordinate to the federal government.

Jim Hershman

[log in to unmask] wrote:

>        Based on the best evidence it seems clear that the founding fathers
>considered the Union established by the Constitution to be an experiment in
>government, and like any experiment was subject to modification or even
>termination.  Washington indicated this was the fact.  Madison appeared to
>agree, as did any number of others in the group.  However, there's no doubt
>that the Civil War ultimately decided this point, right or wrong, and here we
>are.
>
>       The theory of the perpetual nature of the Union only became popular in
>the early 1800's when Joseph Story published his Commentaries, which were
>then used by Webster and became the siren's call of the Federalists and the
>abolitionists in the north.  This theory was that the Constitution wasn't a
>compact or confederation of the states, but was a document established by all
>the people of the Union (the "one people" theory), and that the states had
>never been sovereign bodies for the purposes of the Constitution, and
>therefore had no ability to withdraw.  However, anyone with any background in
>Washington, Madison, or even Hamilton knows that they all considered the
>states to have been sovereign entities when each adopted the Constitution and
>that it was a compact entered into by sovereign states, not by "the people."
>Lincoln picked up this Story theory in his first inaugural address (since
>otherwise he had just been elected the president of 1/2 of the United States)
>noting that "perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law
>of all national governments."  (as we have seen, Lincoln was big on asserting
>that things were implied in the Constitution whenever it served his purpose
>and there was no express power given to him to pursue his predetermined
>course of conduct.  Cf the suspension of habeas corpus, invading the South,
>and emancipation).
>
>JDS
>
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