U.S. Constitution · Amendment X · ratified 1791-12-15

Powers Reserved to the States and the People

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Live in the VFA record

Cited in 51 SI Solutions, 581 grades, 18 Think Tank ideas and 2 SI Senate measures this month.

1573 public items cite this provision · 652 in October 2026 (last month: 42)

Week of 2026-08-03: 26Week of 2026-08-10: 19Week of 2026-08-17: 17Week of 2026-08-24: 0Week of 2026-08-31: 11Week of 2026-09-07: 0Week of 2026-09-14: 20Week of 2026-09-21: 4Week of 2026-09-28: 12Week of 2026-10-05: 453Week of 2026-10-12: 193Week of 2026-10-19: 3

Citations per week, last 12 weeks

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.

National Archives transcription (public domain; original spelling and capitalization). archives.gov

SI explainer

An explainer for this provision is in the queue. It appears here once it passes the SI Editorial Standard’s automated checks. The text, founding-era sources and live citations below are complete.

In the founders’ words

  • “When a building is to be erected which is intended to stand for ages, the foundation should be firmly laid. The constitution proposed to your acceptance, is designed not for yourselves alone, but for generations yet unborn. The principles, therefore, upon which the social compact is founded, ought to have been clearly and precisely stated, and the most express and full declaration of rights to have been made--But on this subject there is almost an entire silence.” Brutus (attributed to Robert Yates), Brutus, No. 2 (1787-11-01)
  • “it is a principle well established in my mind, that they reserve all powers not expressly delegated by them to those who govern; this is as true in forming a state as in forming a federal government. There is no possible distinction but this founded merely in the different modes of proceeding which take place in some cases.” The Federal Farmer, Letters from the Federal Farmer, No. 16 (1788-01-20)
  • “But in delegating federal powers, another criterion was necessarily introduced, and the congressional power is to be collected, not from tacit implication, but from the positive grant expressed in the instrument of the union. Hence, it is evident, that in the former case everything which is not reserved is given; but in the latter the reverse of the proposition prevails, and everything which is not given is reserved.” James Wilson, James Wilson, State House Yard Speech, October 6, 1787 (1787-10-06)
  • “To say, as Mr. Wilson does that a bill of rights was not necessary because all is reserved in the case of the general government which is not given, while in the particular ones all is given which is not reserved might do for the Audience to whom it was addressed, but is surely gratis dictum, opposed by strong inferences from the body of the instrument, as well as from the omission of the clause of our present confederation which had declared that in express terms.” Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, December 20, 1787 (1787-12-20)
  • “He wished the plan had been prefaced with a Bill of Rights, & would second a Motion if made for the purpose. It would give great quiet to the people; and with the aid of the State declarations, a bill might be prepared in a few hours.” James Madison, Madison's Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention, September 12, 1787 (1787-09-12)
  • “Mr. SHERMAN , was for securing the rights of the people where requisite. The State Declarations of Rights are not repealed by this Constitution; and being in force are sufficient. There are many cases where juries are proper which can not be discriminated. The Legislature may be safely trusted.” James Madison, Madison's Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention, September 12, 1787 (1787-09-12)
  • “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 former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected.” James Madison, The Federalist No. 45 (1788-01-26)
  • “In this relation, then, the proposed government cannot be deemed a NATIONAL one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several States a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects.” James Madison, The Federalist No. 39 (1788-01-16)
  • “Mr. Madison objected to this amendment, because it was impossible to confine a Government to the exercise of express powers; there must necessarily be admitted powers by implication, unless the Constitution descended to recount every minutia. He remembered the word "expressly" had been moved in the convention of Virginia, by the opponents to the ratification, and, after full and fair discussion, was given up by them, and the system allowed to retain its present form.” House of Representatives, House of Representatives, Debate on Amendments, August 18, 1789 (Annals of Congress) (1789-08-18)
  • “Whoever views the matter in a true light, will see that the powers are as minutely enumerated and defined as was possible, and will also discover that the general clause, against which so much exception is taken, is nothing more than what was necessary to render effectual the particular powers that are granted.” James Wilson, James Wilson, Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention, December 4, 1787 (Elliot 2) (1787-12-04)

Public-domain primary sources, quoted word for word and checked against the linked text.

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SI Solutions (230)

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grades (581)

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Think Tank ideas (18)

roll-call votes (742)

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Roll-call votes are listed when the measure voted on has a current Constitution Index grade citing this provision. Counts include only published items.

Cite this page

Values for America Constitution Explorer, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution (text: National Archives transcription, public domain), Amendment X, https://www.valuesforamerica.com/constitution/amendment-10

Data: this provision as JSON.