[Castlebar]

Where, praytell can I find this prohibition against secession in the Articles of Confederation?

In the words "Perpetual Union", which mean the same thing then as now.

That expressly delegates to the United States, in Congress assembled, the freedom and independence of nationhood. If you can find an original copy that is titled "Articles of Conditional Union", you would have an argument.

[Hoodat]

Article XIII conflicts with Article III. And an adjective describing a union has no legal teeth, so to speak. For example, let's say it called for a ‘joyful’ union. Kind of difficult to enforce, don't you think? And as for the eternal union of the original confederation, a short decade does not quite describe perpetuity. Again, if the union were truly perpetual in all its legality, it would still exist.