They gave up everything that makes a sovereign nation a sovereign nation.
New York and others reserved the right to take back the sovereignty they had given up if they ever felt that it was necessary to do so.
One cannot be responsible for the misconceptions of New York or the other states that they state in their ratification documents.
And were not afraid to do so precisely because the Declaration of Independence guaranteed them the right to get those powers back.
You forget. 11 years after the Declaration of Independence. Nobody forgot they had the right to leave.
One cannot be responsible for the misconceptions of New York or the other states that they state in their ratification documents.
The fact that no one challenged their quite public assertion that they had the right to reassume those powers makes the theory that they could not leave, the misconception.
Do you have perhaps some contemporary document (~1787) arguing to the contrary of what New York, Virginia and Delaware asserted was their right? I've got three aces. What are you holding to answer them?