That ratification of the Constitution made the States themselves property of the national government seems inconsistent with reference to the sovereignty of the States. There is no sovereignty under those circumstances, and if that is how the Constitution were understood and intended at the time, there would have been no reference to it. They would have understood that they were relinquishing all claim to it.
“That ratification of the Constitution made the States themselves property of the national government seems inconsistent with reference to the sovereignty of the States. There is no sovereignty under those circumstances, and if that is how the Constitution were understood and intended at the time, there would have been no reference to it. They would have understood that they were relinquishing all claim to it.”
You fail to understand the legal concept of delegation of authority used for millenia. Sovereignty has very rarely been entirely unified in the control of just one entity. You can see this when you study any political history and observe how sovereignty is distributed in the society.
In the case of the perpetual Union of the United States, the citizens of the United States has delegated personal sovereignty not reserved to themselves to their delegates or representatives to the State government, and the State Government has delegated certain enumerated powers and authority to the perpetual Union of the United States: Congress, the Executive, and the Supreme Court of the United States. The Founding Fathers in this case delegated certain limited powers of sovereignty to the perpetual Union of the United States through the Continental Congresses, the Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the Amendments to the Constitution. In particular, the Constitution was very explicit in reconfirming the delegation of certain sovereign powers of a State to the perpetual Union of the United States in: “Constitution of the United States. Article. VI. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.” When the State ratified the Congressional act making the State a member of the perpetual Union of the United States as set forth in the Articles of Confederation, the ratification served to delegate those limited sovereign powers of the citizens and the State to the Union of the United States, subjecting them to the duty of obtaining the consent of Congress to alter the Engagement and agreements. The State nonetheless retains all sovereingn powers and sovereignty not delegated to the perpetual Union of the United States and not reserved by the citizens of the United States.
So, yes, the States are sovereign governments, but exercise that sovereignty in union with the States who share the same delegated powers of sovereignty through their mutual Union in the United States. Consequently, the State is no relinquishing the sovereign powers, but the State is sharing the delegated sovereign powers with the other States. This is why the consent of the other states must be obtained through the consent of Congress to alter their mutual agreement and Engagement to participate in a perpetual Union of enumerated powers and shared co-sovereignty over the Federal Territory and domain.