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.
“I consider THE FOUNDATION of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people.’ To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” Thomas Jefferson to President George Washington, opinion against the constitutionality of a national bank, 15 February 1791
“Resolved, That the government formed by the Constitution of the United States was not the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself;
but that, as in all other cases of compact among parties having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the
mode and measure of redress.
Resolved, That the principle and construction contended for by the party which now rules in the councils of the nation, that the general government is the exclusive
judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, stop nothing short of despotism, since the discretion of those who administer the government, and not the
Constitution, would be the measure of their powers; that the several states which formed that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable
right to judge of its infractions; and that a positive defiance of those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done or attempted to be done under color of that
instrument, is the rightful remedy.” Thomas Jefferson, Kentucky Resolution 1798
“It is federal, because it is the government of States united in a political union, in contradistinction to a government of individuals, that is, by what is usually called, a social compact. To express it more concisely, it is federal and not national because it is the government of a community of States, and not the government of a single State or Nation.” John Calhoun (his Fort Hill Address HERE)
MIKE GALLUCCI of Winterport ME writes: "I consider THE FOUNDATION of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people..." Did Thomas Jefferson just say that the 10th Amendment is THE FOUNDATION of the Constitution? No, he didn’t, he said that THE FOUNDATION of the Constitution is laid on the BEDROCK that is embodied in the 10th Amendment. According to Thomas Jefferson (as if “THE FOUNDATION of the Constitution” isn’t important enough), the 10th Amendment is THE FOUNDATION OF THE FOUNDATION of the Constitution! Doubly important, of paramount importance, nothing is of more importance…that’s how I read it, how about you? READ ARTICLE
