Where did the Founders get the idea the 13 Colonies could unite and still maintain their sovereignty? It came from Vattel’s Droit des Gens.
Just went to the Federalist Papers website, the definitive explanation of what the Constitution is and how its provision were arrived at. By the most prominent author of the Constitution and its three leading advocates.
Very strange. The search term “Vattel” is not found in the FP. Odd, since the Constitution was based on his work.
The term “law of nations” is found four times. Not once does it reference Vattel’s work. It refers to what today we would call “international law.”
The idea of federalism was explored inn depth by the Founders. We have documentation they discussed the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues of ancient Greece, the Delian League (later known as the Athenian Empire when the leading member took over), the Swiss Federation, the Netherlands, and probably other attempts at a federal system.
What we don’t have, very oddly, is any indication they ever discussed Vattel or his notions.