The Tenth Amendment

" 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."

Explanation of the 10th Amendment

The purpose of the Tenth Amendment is basically over looking the point the Constitution makes toward federalism in stating that the powers that are not granted to the government, will be reserved to the people.  When this amendment was first suggested, it did not apply to the states, it only applied to the federal law.  At the time, the states had their own constitutions and bill of rights.  Some states ( southern states) also had slavery which was also protected by the Tenth Amendment. This amendment is saying that the government can not practice or carry on with rights that were not legally granted to them by the Constitution.  Therefore the rights not granted to them are automatically reserved to the people.  The Tenth Amendment was also veiwed as an effort to push back any unconstitutional law.  This amendment is necessary because it makes a good point and stands up for the rights of state citizens against the government. Although it also points out that there is a limit as to how far they will go governing the nation.

The Importance of the 10th Amendment

The Tenth Amendment doesn't have much of a history.  In fact there is really nothing in the history of its adoption to suggest that it was more than an explanation of relationship between the states and their governments.  It was ratified on December 15,1791. The main concern of the people that made this amendment ratified was that they were concerned that the government would try to practice with rights that were not legally granted to them.  The tenth amendment is still important today because as the years go by, our government is changing.  But even though it is, they must only practice with the rights that were legally granted to them and respect the rights of citizens.  The Tenth Amendment isn't really used as often anymore as it used to be.  State governments still use it to prevent the federal government from interferring with the state governments as far as the rights of citizens and carrying out laws.  As far as the Tenth Amendment goes, with all the other laws being passed and worried about, the thenth amendment  frequently recieves any serious attention.