I recently had a discussion with a conservative who is resistant, if not opposed, to secession, and thus true state sovereignty. (This same conservative went on to defend the imperious, dictatorial, and blood-drenched administration of Abraham Lincoln.) He argued that the states were always united, even as colonies, and that their unbreakable bond was recognized from the start.

Really?

From the Declaration of Independence, 1776:

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

From the Treaty of Paris, 1783:

His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.

Of course, the Articles of Confederation, 1777, while stipulating,

[e]ach state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled

also framed the arrangement as a "perpetual union," though one functional and voluntary rather than fundamental, sustained by "friendship" for the causes of the "security of liberties" "mutual and general welfare," and "common defense."

What's clear is that . . . the issue is not so clear. The area being gray, I tend to err on the side of caution, that is, the side of liberty. Secession stands. Free New England!