Tenth Amendment
States' rights provision
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution reserves to the states or the people all powers not specifically granted to the federal government.
Ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, it embodies the principle of limited federal authority: The governor invoked the Tenth Amendment to challenge the new regulations.
States' rights advocates frequently cite it in disputes over federal overreach.
- Articles of ConfederationOriginal American governing charter
- LibertarianismPhilosophy minimizing state authority
- Tea PartySmall-government advocacy movement
- original intentAuthors' understood purpose
- Bill of RightsInitial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
Ron Paul · interposition · nullification · Founding Fathers · reserved powers · state sovereignty · Home Rule · police powers · Sovereignty · enumerated · states' rights · Federalist Papers · framers · James Madison · limited government · Constitution · compact · self-governance
- constitutional lawConstitution, Bill of Rights, constitutional law, constitutional rights, constitutional amendments
- ConstitutionBill of Rights, preamble, articles, U.S. Constitution, Article I
- Early RepublicGeorge Washington, Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Constitutional Convention
- federalismstates' rights, federal law, federal district, enumerated powers, federal agency
- legal rightslegal rights, constitutional rights, fundamental rights, Miranda rights, Bill of Rights
- state lawstate statutes, state laws, state constitutions, constitutional law, state code
Tenth Amendmentcentralized government
Authority held by one body
nationalism · centralism · big government · federal overreach · Fourteenth Amendment
Tenth Amendmentjudicial activism
Broad court interpretation philosophy