Re: Re Strategic Reserve.

["Philip J. Kuhl" <pjkuhl@erols.com>]

John Garrison wrote:  "Virginian here! Are we not 50 sovreign [sic] states?"

I fear not since 1865.  I believe it was the historian Shelby Foote who
noted that prior to the Civil War, American English usage was "The United
States *are* ..." whereas after the War it changed to "The United States
*is* ..." i.e., from plural to singular.  Despite the many differences legal
and cultural between the states, the Civil War made it clear that the states
are not sovereign and that the Federal government has primacy.

Philip J. Kuhl
Arlington 4, Virginia
PJKuhl@erols.com