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The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1791 and written by founding father James Madison. The Tenth Amendment, arguably the most significant amendment in the Bill of Rights, is centralized around a person’s and states’ rights. The historical forces that gave rise to this amendment was the concept of equally split power because people were terrified of kings(someone with all power) at the time and to address and respond to concerns about America as a whole at the time when the Bill of Rights was ratified.
These concerns were over individual rights, states’ sovereignty, and the balance between federal and state power, all of which the Tenth Amendment covers. This amendment, guaranteeing that citizens’ worries are taken care of, created a sense of relief within the Constitution as a whole, allowing America to appreciate it more. The commonly understood meaning of the Tenth Amendment is that it guarantees states’ rights and authority, so all the power is not confined to the federal government. It’s extremely significant because it sets the precedent for more equal power, as opposed to the federal government controlling all. Although there is one most common understanding of the Tenth Amendment, it has been interpreted in many different ways. As time progressed since the amendment was ratified, interpretations of it significantly changed, resulting in country-wide debates.
In the early 20th century, the country relied on the Tenth Amendment to control the federal government’s power over the states; however, as the federal government played a more prominent role in areas such as civil rights, commerce, and social welfare, some Americans started to believe that the Tenth Amendment was discriminatory. During the Progressive Era, some Americans asserted that by allowing the states power, the Tenth Amendment promoted outdated racist views within certain states. Because of the backlash against the Tenth Amendment, it essentially disappeared from the Constitution in the late 20th century until 1992, in the New York vs. United States Supreme Court case.
This case arose when Congress passed the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, and New York objected to the act, arguing that it went against the Tenth Amendment. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which in a 6-3 decision, ruled in favor of New York, ultimately bringing back the Tenth Amendment from its neglected days. This case was extremely significant in the history of the Tenth Amendment because it reinforced the importance of state sovereignty in the American federal system. Because of this Supreme Court case, the Tenth Amendment has since gained a lot more credibility than it had during the Civil Rights Acts when interpretations surrounding the amendment created prominent discourse throughout the country.
Although many citizens at the time had believed that the Tenth Amendment promoted racial inequality, it actually promotes equality. By providing a split in power between the state and federal governments, the Tenth Amendment guarantees more equality in power throughout America. It connects to many other important pieces of legislation from global history because it is the basis of human rights. The Tenth Amendment most resembles the Social Contract by Rousseau, mostly because James Madison was influenced by Rousseau, but also it’s cooperative solution between complete freedom and imprisonment to a government.
The Tenth Amendment sets a good boundary between the amount of power the people have as opposed to the government, whereas the Social Contract illustrates the importance of this moderation between the two. Today, the Tenth Amendment remains one of the most important pieces of legislation in America’s system of government, providing equality and individual rights for all citizens, and is therefore too significant to change.
