The definition of a CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC seems simply to be
"an assemblage of societies,'' or an association of two or more states
into one state. The extent, modifications, and objects of the federal authority
are mere matters of discretion. So long as the separate organization of the
members be not abolished; so long as it exists, by a constitutional necessity,
for local purposes; though it should be in perfect subordination to the general
authority of the union, it would still be, in fact and in theory, an
association of states, or a confederacy. The proposed Constitution, so
far from implying an abolition of the State governments, makes them constituent
parts of the national sovereignty, by allowing them a direct representation in
the Senate, and leaves in their possession certain exclusive and very important
portions of sovereign power. This fully corresponds, in every rational import
of the terms, with the idea of a federal government.
Madison Federalist Papers #9 November 1787
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