The 10th Amendment: Sovereignty of the People of the Several States
In the system of the Founders, the powers of both the “general government and the state governments” are “emanations of power from the people.” The 10th Amendment was widely understood to reaffirm this revolutionary principle. Path to Liberty,...
The 10th Amendment and the Virginia Ratifying Convention
In Virginia, there was pretty fierce debate over the ratification of the Constitution. The principle of delegated and reserved powers – which eventually became the 10th Amendment – was a big focus of people like James Madison, George Mason, Patrick Henry,...
The 10th Amendment: An Introduction
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” What does it mean, why did they think it was so important? And would we even have a...