The Founding Fathers understood that if America does not have sovereignty, it does not have independence.

The idea of sovereignty can be traced back to when people were seen as having natural rights that could not be taken away by any other person or institution (including the government). 

It was believed that all citizens should have control over their own lives, free from outside interference. Sovereignty was also used to define the relationship between a government and its citizens. For people to have self-determination, they must have sovereignty over themselves.