Fedgov was not the orwellian nightmare it is today, either. And federalism wasn’t such a massive problem to citizens and the states to the point it as usurped powers not explocitly given toit but taken fromthe dfates and the people, 9th and 10th amendment issues.
I understand how we purchased, and in other cases, won territory. Doesnt change my viewpoint. You cant have two classes of states, because the colonies and other states not carved out of huge purchases do not have significant portions of their states federalized, off limits and not under their own jurisdictions.
So the fact that thousands of extremely hard working families chose to homestead, improve and cultivate land in some areas and opted not to in others means nothing to you?
It's all geography, not individual initiative and effort?