The State is the building block of our Republic. The separate sovereign states elected the President, whether there were 13 states or 48 or 50. We have never been an raw Democracy with mob rule, nor were the people ever intended to vote for president directly. The entire reason for the electoral college is to weaken the ability of large states to dominate small states.
But I like how the person in the article framed it. Well done.
That's the popular mythology. It's purpose was to elect an endless succession of George Washingtons.