Lesson 10 of 10
The Tenth Amendment: Powers Reserved to the States and the People
The federal government has only the powers the Constitution gives it.
The text
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.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
What it plainly means
The federal government has only the powers the Constitution delegates to it, mostly listed in Article I, Section 8. Everything else is reserved to the states or to the people.
History and the Founders' intent
Under the Articles of Confederation, the states kept "every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated." The Constitution created a stronger national government, and opponents feared it would swallow the states. Federalists answered that its powers were limited to those listed. Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 45: "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." The Tenth Amendment wrote that promise into the Constitution.
Notably, the House of Representatives in 1789 rejected motions to insert "expressly" before "delegated." In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), Chief Justice Marshall pointed out that the Tenth Amendment "omits the word 'expressly'" and relied on that to allow powers implied from the listed ones. Originalists still read the listed powers as the measure of federal authority.
Key Supreme Court cases
- McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819): Congress may use means "necessary and proper" to carry out its listed powers.
- United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995): the Commerce Clause does not let Congress make it a crime to possess a gun in a local school zone; there are limits to federal power.
- New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992) and Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997): Congress may not commandeer state legislatures or state officers to carry out federal programs.
- Murphy v. NCAA, 584 U.S. 453 (2018): Congress may not issue direct orders to state legislatures, so it could not forbid states to authorize sports betting, including by repealing their own bans.
What it means for you today
Most of the laws that shape daily life, including criminal law, schools, property, family law, and elections administration, are made by your state legislature and local governments, not Washington. That is why your state representative and state senator matter so much, and why Christian Vote USA tracks the Tennessee and Colorado legislatures alongside Congress. When a federal bill reaches beyond the powers listed in Article I, Section 8, the Tenth Amendment is the question to ask.
Check your understanding
This lesson is educational and is not legal advice. Laws and procedures change; confirm current rules with the official sources linked above.