When freedom was won and Britain granted independence, it was to each colony in turn. No mention was ever made of the "United States" because at that time it did not exist. A joint declaration does not create a nation, only an alliance. This alliance lasted only as long as the revolution required. Each new State was a separate and independent, sovereign entity. As separate nations, the States were weak and easily defeated by anyone wishing to do so, their former masters or even their sister States (the threat of which occurred several times). The solution was an alliance under the "Articles of Confederation", which provided a loose unity in defense and a court of arbitration for disputes between States while maintaining the sovereignty of each otherwise independent State. This Confederation lasted some two years from 1787 until 1789. Although it was called "perpetual", it was history in only two years!
     At this time Virginia was the largest landholder among the States. The entire Northwest Territories, captured by Her in the "French and Indian War", belonged to Her alone. The New England States demanded that She give up all this territory as a precondition to their signing. (These tiny States seemed to have a size complex. They were very little fish in a very big pond. ) Virginia gave up these lands, far more land than all of New England combined, all for the sake of unity. In retrospect, Virginia giving up these lands for Yankee expansion instead of keeping them confined to New England where they could be left to squabble among themselves while the world passed them by was the worse possible choice She could have made. However, She did what She thought best at the time and I find no fault in her motives or in the many great men She gave us. My only wish is that Her sacrifice had turned out better for Her, and for us all. (Hindsight is 20/20, foresight is founded in hope.)
     When the "real" Constitution was written and adopted in 1789, it was done so by those same sovereign and independent States. The very name "United States" says it was an alliance of sovereign States, not merely a collection of provinces, as it is today. Nowhere in this agreement is the word "perpetual" found. None of the States would have signed on without the understanding that any State wishing to withdraw was free to do so! A right that the New England States threatened to use first, and often.(see Hartford Convention) After all, they had just seceded from the "perpetual Confederation" to join the non-perpetual "Union"! An irreversible ascension in such uncertain times would have been out of the question. (Denying the South this right is just another example of Yankee "double standards", but considering their record, not really surprising.)
    Although each State was a separate and distinct entity, (yes, even the little ones) they were bound together mainly by their dependence on trade. The South provided raw materials and the North provided the finished goods. A trade nurtured by those who stood to profit from the increasingly sophisticated society emerging in the South, the wealthiest part of the nation, and source of the bulk of the Federal budget.
    The population of the North grew rapidly because of their penchant for city life where their needs could be filled close at hand. When European immigrants came into the new country, they usually came in through the Northern ports and, most being poor, almost all stayed there swelling the population of the North. This made an ideal environment for the creation of factories and mills during the emerging "Industrial Revolution". Making barely enough to keep body and soul together, they toiled in the mills, mines and factories of the North as no more than serfs. The "great" industrialists of the period, as in later years, made great fortunes from the blood, sweat and tears of these simple people whose dreams of a better life seduced them into a reality of economic bondage. Still today, we are all really no more than "voluntary slaves" to this society by our passive acceptance, or active participation, in the "competition". (That the Southern People would rather make do with less material possessions in order to have more time for family and friends, time to "stop and smell the roses" time to live life, is yet another source of ridicule against us by those who are caught up in the game of "He who dies with the most toys wins!". Dead is still dead! And to die without having truly lived is such a waste of the gift of life!)