What makes you say that morality demands accepting the premise that states are the fundamental unit, here? That is, even acknowledging that the people who signed the constitution imagined themselves to be acting on behalf of the [landowning male] residents of their states, why are we morally bound to adhere to their model of political authority?
Also, the Constitution itself provides a different avenue without dissolving the union, so it can't simply be a matter of invoking the original agreement—which would beg the question I'm posing, anyway.
(I'm not expressing any agreement or disagreement with your claim, just its support.)
>why are we morally bound to adhere to their model of political authority?
We're not, the Constitution can be changed, the government can be replaced, you can go somewhere where government works differently.
The philosophical ideas behind some of the "unfairness" of the Constitution were good ideas and have led to a lot of higher-level fairness which people tend not to appreciate.
We're also just the longest surviving government in the world besides some very small exceptions, so apparently quite a few things worked.
What makes you say that morality demands accepting the premise that states are the fundamental unit, here? That is, even acknowledging that the people who signed the constitution imagined themselves to be acting on behalf of the [landowning male] residents of their states, why are we morally bound to adhere to their model of political authority?
Also, the Constitution itself provides a different avenue without dissolving the union, so it can't simply be a matter of invoking the original agreement—which would beg the question I'm posing, anyway.
(I'm not expressing any agreement or disagreement with your claim, just its support.)