If an independent clause stands on its own, is it still considered a clause?
An independent clause, by definition, can stand alone as a sentence.
By definition, a sentence must have at least ONE independent clause to be considered a sentence.
A SIMPLE sentence has ONE and ONLY ONE independent clause.
A COMPLEX sentence has ONE independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
A COMPOUND sentence has TWO or more independent clauses.
A COMPLEX-COMPOUND sentence has TWO or more independent clauses with at least ONE dependent clause.