U.S. Capital Building

Recently many states have been passing resolutions affirming their rights and sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  With this in mind I thought it important to review the meaning and intent of this amendment and how it has come to be interpreted over time.

The Tenth Amendment guaranties sovereignty to the individual states. It is important to remember each state was a sovereign political entity, which voluntarily entered a compact, the Constitution. By doing so, the states decided to give up some sovereignty in order to achieve certain goals. Uniting as one country allowed the states to collectively negotiate treaties, and “promote” the general welfare, (notice it says promote, not provide) and provide for the common defense. To protect the states from any potential encroachment of federal power, the Tenth Amendment was added. The articles of the Constitution expressly grant specific powers to the branches of government. The first nine amendments specifically prohibit the government from infringing on innate rights held by each citizen. The Tenth Amendment is the keystone, stating anything not mentioned previously, is reserved specifically to the states, and their citizens.

The Tenth Amendment is based on an earlier provision of the Articles of Confederation.  After the Constitution was ratified, some wanted to add an amendment limiting the federal government to powers "expressly" delegated, denying so called "implied powers". The result of these discussions was the Tenth Amendment, making explicit the idea the federal government is limited only to the powers granted in the Constitution. In United States v. Sprague, the Supreme Court reiterated and confirmed the Tenth Amendment’s purpose by referring to the amendment as essentially a truism. The primary implication of the Tenth Amendment is the government of the United States has the power to regulate only those matters delegated to it by the Constitution. Everything else is reserved to the states.

The federal system, and the Tenth Amendment, limit the ability of the federal government to implement national policy through the states.  As such, one way the federal government has tried to get around the tenth amendment is via the Commerce Clause. The clause is found in Article 1 Section 8, and grants the federal government power to regulate commerce among the states. This has been interpreted to mean if an activity crosses state borders, it falls under interstate commerce.

Another tool the government has used to get around the Tenth Amendment's limitations is federal funding. Since it is difficult, if not unconstitutional, to implement many federal programs directly, Congress often ties federal funds, such as highway or education funding, to state complicity with federal programs. In this way Congress can encourage states to implement national programs in a system often referred to as cooperative federalism.

The Tenth Amendment is a vital tool to protecting the checks and balances provided in the Constitution.  This is the basis for our system of government. We are free citizens, agreeing to abide by the rules set by our government. so long as that government abides by the rules we have set down to contain its ambitions. A free people can only remain so for as long as they remain aware of their rights and responsibilities, and hold their government to account, lest we are once again faced with "a long train of abuses and usurpations".