[Steve_Seattle]

"The States did not cease to exist. Their citizens entered into a state of rebellion, the rebellion was put down, the state continued to be a state in unbroken continuity, at least legally speaking."

That's kind of what I thought (post #58), but I wasn't sure so I left myself a little wiggle-room. But in another post, XRdsRev suggests that the history of these specific documents is known, and that they can be traced to a particular individual. If that is true - and this article does not say anything about it - the state's case would be stronger. I had had the impression from the story that no one really knew where the documents came from or how they were obtained.

[dixie sass]

No, we became another country. We seceeded from the Union and formed out own country. The CONFEDERATE States. We were no longer a part of the Union.