It was repudiated by force, but has yet to be repudiated by reason. The Founders said explicitly that people have a right to independence, but some times the King wins a clash of arms and denies them their right.
I guess anyone can arrive at his own opinion. I believe that the Constitution created "one great, consolidated, national government, of the people of all the states" like Patrick Henry said. He saw clearly that "we the People" meant something very different than "we the states" and that we were creating more than just a confederation. Like Patrick Henry, I've never even thought it was a close issue. Apparently, you see it all differently.
But, it really doesn't matter what you think or I think. The matter was, as you say, decided "by force."
My point has been that you can still try to convince folks to divide the country up. You just can't do it unilaterally. You need to convince the American people that it would make sense.