You ignore your own assumptions. You assume that a state has sovereignty over a city and a city over its constituent neighborhoods. In fact, states have power over cities, towns, and counties first of all because states possess superior force (National Guard). Likewise, the national government has superior power to the states (military forces, national police, intelligence services, etc.) From the British point of view in the 1770s, the colonies in America possessed not a single shred of sovereignty, being subordinate corporations created by Parliament, much as the West India Company was. Only force created sovereign bodies out of those colonies. Likewise, force underwrote the transition from the fiction of state sovereignty to the contemporary fact of national sovereignty. Date sent: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 11:24:39 -0500 (EST) From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Gods and Generals To: [log in to unmask] Send reply to: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <[log in to unmask]> > National Guard troops called out by the governor of Califormia to suppress > civil riots in his state is significantly different. So, I don't see the > point. > > JDS > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html Harold S. Forsythe Assistant Professor History Director: Black Studies Fairfield University Fairfield, CT 06430-5195 (203) 254-4000 x2379 To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html