Hamilton's later writing in the Essay on the National Bank greatly expands the concept of permissable federal powers and Washington agreed as did the Congress. There clearly are powers which are not specified such as the power to guard the borders (not mentioned) or the power to purchase Louisiana. Almost anything can be tied to the exercise of the specific powers mentioned which makes this a much greater grant than you are willing to acknowledge. And all the Founders (and Jefferson) agreed there were implied powers.
In fact, the Union did predate the States and they came into being after the Continental Congress asked them to write constitutions and become states. Before that they were just colonies. The Articles of Association came into being October 20, 1774 over a year before ANY state was created. The United Colonies 1st Congress convened in Sept of 1774 BEFORE any states were created. There was never a truly sovereign state except Texas. All were colonies bound to Britain then part of the Union before any state called itself a state.
What you're talking about is a silent coup and is in no way a conservative position.
The remainder of the post is just semantic acrobatics. Independence was won, and recognized, as individual states.