[jobim]

I concur with everything you say, except:

the Articles of Confederation were flat unworkable. The nation could never have
remained unified

That Philadelphia Convention never allowed for that possibility, so we do not know how
we might have moved forward. But to simply say, as conventional wisdom dictates, that
doom was inevitable, is making an ill-founded assumption.

The North had not the right to make aggressive war on the South, but the South had the
right to defend itself. (Just War theory). We had no right to take Cuba & the Philippines,
nor Hawaii. We had no right to be in Vietnam nor the Middle East wars.

Were the unanimous vote of all the states necessary to go to war, perhaps only against
Hitler might we have joined the fight.

I work from 2 premises:
1) all gov't (as you said) is eventually corrupted
2) only competition brings the possibility of liberty

[Jacquerie]

jobim: <>That Philadelphia Convention never allowed for that possibility, so we do not know how we might have moved forward.<>

You really do not know what you are talking about.

Whatever Happened to the Articles of Confederation? Part V.