The States are Sovereign. That is why they're called States

This is my first Debate. In order to get a feel for this site I've decided to start my first debate with something that I've studied for years and am deeply intrigued by.

On July 4 1776, Thirteen Colonies declared Sovereign Statehood and broke away from their oppressive government. Shortly after winning their war for secession they enacted the Articles of Confederation which, not only reinforced their Individual Sovereignty, prevented the creation of another oppressive Central Government. Over the following short years it became known to all States that in order to work together more efficiently, a more powerful Central Government was needed. And on June 21, 1788 the US Constitution was ratified by all current States and became the new Law of the Land for the US. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the US Constitution created a newer, stronger, more powerful, and (most importantly) more efficient Central Government. But did this new Constitution mean that the still newly formed States are no longer sovereign? Is the US one nation, or the Union of 50 Sovereign Nations?

Debate Topic: Are the States today still sovereign whether or not it is enforced or believed?

Rules: This is my first debate on Debate.org - Quite frankly I'm just experimenting to see how this works. As for the rules I have 1 and 1 only: Be Respectful. Not because simply because this is a debate to which all opinions must be respected, but because we are all adults and must act in such ways.

Thank you sky55anchorage for the oppertunity to debate this topic,

I accept this debate and will be arguing that the States are not Sovereign, but are to some degree autonomous.

"Sovereignty, in political theory, is a substantive term designating supreme authority over some polity.
It is a basic principle underlying the dominant Westphalian model of state foundation. In layman's terms,
it means a state or a governing body has the full right and power to govern itself without any interference from outside sources or bodies."(1)

Consider,

1: Section one article ten of the United States Constitution.

"No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility."(2)

"States may not exercise certain powers reserved for the federal government:"(2)

2: McCulloch v. Maryland

"This case established two important principles in constitutional law. First, the Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government. Second, state action may not impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the Federal government." (3)

"the Supreme Court has power (superseding that of all other courts) to examine federal and state statutes and executive actions to determine whether they conform to the U.S. Constitution." (4)

3: Conclsion

If sovereignty means a state that has full right and power to gover itself without outside interference, and the following is true that:
The States are limited in several ways by the tenth article of the first section of the U.S. Constitution.
The Supreme court has ruled in favor of the Federal government haveing power over the States.
States are subject to a higher Federal Government as is eperically evident by the civil war.

Then the fifty states that make up the United States of America are not indepedently Soverign.

Sky55anchorage, I look forward to your arguements, and good luck.

(1)http://en.wikipedia.org...
(2)http://en.wikipedia.org...
(3)http://en.wikipedia.org...
(4)http://www.infoplease.com...

my opponent has forfeited the round...

I would like to apologize for my plethora of spelling errors in my last post, I was typing on a tablet. It was tougher than I thought it would be.

I maintain my position and will just add the following links that indicate not only are the States not Sovereign they are not recognized by Wikipedia, the United States of America, or by the United Nations as Sovereign nations.

(1)http://en.wikipedia.org...
(2)http://www.state.gov...
(3)http://www.un.org...

sky55anchorage I sincerely hope you can find time to respond to this debate, I am really looking forward to hearing you defend your resolution that "The States are Sovereign."

My opponent conceded.

I stumbled on this information this morning...

http://www.infoplease.com...

Four of the United States do not call themselves States. They are "commonwealths."

My opponent has forfeited.

My opponent conceded.