Point taken. Post 1686 lists some of the things done by the states that would support their status as sovereign entities. In addition, under the Articles states ran their own commerce and international trade, and some issued their own money.
Believe it or not I do read all of your posts on these threads, and I did read that one ;'}
Part of what I see in viewing the back & forth on these threads is the occasional imputation of ideas or ideals to the words of our Founding Fathers based on what should rightfully be called idiomatic speech. (Please note that I am not accusing you of this tactic, but am curious if you have seen it as well) What did a person really mean when he used a particular word or term? Is a state a state a State? Can a state be a nation (or vice versa)?
When pursuing the question of 'legitimacy' of the various colony/states I reviewed a bunch of documents at
The Avalon Project - a link that I picked up on these threads. While I admit that my research is by no means comprehensive it does raise questions that I have offered up in the last few posts.
It may be trivial to some (but then delving into WBTS at any length appears trivial to lots of folks), but it speaks not only to what the FF had in mind when engineering our Republic, and how the North & South interpreted those intentions years later, to where we find ourselves at present day and where we may be headed.