Why do you think that is a phony political theory? The Union most certainly pre-dated the Constitution of 1787. I believe Lincoln suggested, at one time, that the Union began with the Articles of Association. I happen to believe that American nationalism goes back even further than that. The "United States of America" began, as a legal entity, with our Declaration of Independence (which one could date as July 4, or as July 2, 1776, depending on how one accepts Lee's resolution).
"You will notice the irony, that Lincoln the Hamiltonian had to militate against Hamilton's child, the Constitution, in favor of Jefferson's Declaration ..."
For Lincoln, and other right-minded Americans, the Declaration and the Constitution were simpatico.
Yes, that was 1774, and that claim wouldn't wash because of the Articles' prominent mention of fealty to the British Crown as Sovereign. Oops.
I happen to believe that American nationalism goes back even further than that.
Ah, a mystic chords of memory kind of guy. Well, sorry, but we're talking about legally enforceable compacts and contracts.
The "United States of America" began, as a legal entity, with our Declaration of Independence
It began on that date as a revolutionary entity, not a legal one -- the only thing "legal" about the Declaration was the eligibility of the signers for a British rope. I'm glad they signed, and I'm glad we won, but that document isn't the legal cornerstone of the United States of America and the American Republic we now enjoy. Well, some of us enjoy, the rest of us -- the 13 States of the Confederacy -- being vassals, subject States, and playthings of the triumphant North and its dependent western marches.