The World According to Oatney

Is the Constitution a contract among the States by which the federal government is created, thus making Washington subject to the States and allowing a State to withdraw from the agreement if it deems it appropriate to do so, or are the States mere units of government similar to the Departments of the French Republic, subject to the rules established by the central government and required to bend to its will? Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, the question is not about whether it is practical to do so, but merely about what the Constitution itself really means.