Temecula Constitution Study: Amendments IX and X

The Bill of Rights was unnecessary. Each of the first eight amendments were addressed in the text of the first seven articles. However, these rights were so important that the founders felt it necessary to write a bill of rights so as to clarify what the federal could not do in relation to our God-given rights. James Madison wrote the amendments, and they were added to the Constitution in 1791.

Knowing that there would be attempts to misinterpret the Constitution, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments were included.

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

In other words, just because a right may not be mentioned here, it does not give the government the allowance to deny such right. All of our God-given rights are protected.

Amendment X: 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 Tenth Amendment was intended to confirm the understanding of the people at the time the Constitution was adopted that powers not granted to the federal government of the United States were reserved to the States or to the people. The authorities of the federal government are listed in the Constitution in Article I, Section 8, or any amendments. If the authority is not listed as being one that belongs to the federal government, and no place is the issue denied to the States (such as in Article I, Section 10), then the power is retained by the States.

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Thank You to Faith Armory, 27498 Enterprise Circle West, #2 in Temecula, California, for the use of their classroom.

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