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| -Land of the Free |
| 10th Amendment Essentials: Sovereignty and Resistance |
| 2023-11-01 |
| [Tenth Amendment Center - April 2022] 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." Before the Tenth Amendment was even drafted or considered, supporters of the Constitution told the people that the document would be structured under the same principle. That is, all powers not delegated are reserved. In Federalist 45, James Madison put it this way: The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. In his State House Yard Speech months earlier, James Wilson made the same case: Congressional authority is to be collected, not from tacit implication, but from the positive grant expressed in the instrument of union. And in a December 1787 letter, Roger Sherman did as well: The powers vested in the federal government are only such as respect the common interests of the Union, and are particularly defined, so that each State retains its sovereignty in what respects its own internal government, and a right to exercise every power of a sovereign State not delegated to the United States. But rather than being only a line in the sand between federal and state power, the 10th Amendment is actually a legal "rule of construction." With its partner the 9th Amendment, it tells us how to read the entire Constitution. Madison explained in his Report of 1800: Whenever, therefore a question arises concerning the constitutionality of a particular power; the first question is, whether the power be expressed in the constitution. If it be, the question is decided. If it be not expressed; the next enquiry must be, whether it is properly an incident to an express power, and necessary to its execution. If it be, it may be exercised by Congress. If it be not; Congress cannot exercise it. Thomas Jefferson considered this so essential he referred to the 10th Amendment as "the foundation of the Constitution." As noted by Sherman above, the 10th Amendment is also an affirmation of sovereignty. In the American system, no government is sovereign — it’s the People of the Several States who hold final authority. James Wilson described it this way: The truth is, that, in our governments, the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power remains in the people. As our constitutions are superior to our legislatures; so the people are superior to our constitutions. Tenth Amendment Website. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 The foundation of our Constitution rests on the contractual nature of natural law. Man is sovereign unto himself, but consents to limitations through a contractual agreement with the state in return for defined protections and limits on the state's power. Our Constitution is a contract between citizens and our government, wherein the citizens agree to limits on their inherent sovereignty for benefits and protections. It does not grant rights to our citizens, rather, it defines what rights the citizens defer to the government to exercise. The 10th Amendment is the confirmations of the sequestration of those contractual rights between the federal government, whose primary purpose is the protection of the Union and the more robust roles the States play in the conduct of justice courts and the economy. The 16th and 17th Amendments are major factors in the creeping erosion of the intent of the 10th, leading to the monstrosity on the Potomac we have today! |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2023-11-01 13:39 |
| #1 The truth is, that, in our governments, the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power remains in the people. ...And there's way too many people who would cheerfully burn it all to the ground rather than admit that. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2023-11-01 11:08 |