Kim, I didn't say state sovereignty/states' rights is a dead issue. But it is clearly diminished. The Civil War was the watershed moment, but there have been others -- notably the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s (another example of racist policies being defended on states' rights grounds). Most historians would agree on this. There are bound to be disagreements about how far we should go with the progressive federalization that has been at work in this country throughout history, but clearly it has happened. Moreover, given the increased mobility of the population, and the increased inter-dependence of the states on trade issues and such, I have a hard time imagining that we could have frozen the states' rights issue in time back in the 1770s.