It isn’t a binary solution. Just because a loose confederation of 13 essentially independent countries failed doesn’t mean the Founders wanted a strong unitary state. They didn’t. They settled on a middle ground where a strong federal government handled foreign affairs and interstate trade, and states handled the rest. It’s sort of how the European Union operates today (but without the thousand-page directives).
It isn’t a binary solution. Just because a loose confederation of 13 essentially independent countries failed doesn’t mean the Founders wanted a strong unitary state. They didn’t. They settled on a middle ground where a strong federal government handled foreign affairs and interstate trade, and states handled the rest. It’s sort of how the European Union operates today (but without the thousand-page directives).