The Founders did not include in the Constitution an explicit statement of state powers but added it later in

The Founders did not include in the Constitution an explicit statement of state powers but added it later in

• A. Second Amendment
• B. Seventh Amendment
• C. Tenth Amendment
• D. Fourteenth Amendment

Answer: (C)

Federalism and how power is split between national and state governments is being tested here. The Founders gave the national government enumerated powers and left a lot of authority to the states, but they didn’t spell out every reserve of power in one place. The Tenth Amendment was added to make that division explicit: any power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, is reserved to the states or to the people. This clarifies that states keep broad authority over most matters not granted to the federal government, preserving the balance between national and state power. It was ratified as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791 to address concerns about centralized power. The other amendments address different issues. The Second Amendment concerns the right to keep and bear arms, the Seventh deals with jury trials in civil cases, and the Fourteenth Amendment focuses on due process and equal protection and extending constitutional protections to state action, rather than establishing the states’ reserved powers.

Federalism and how power is split between national and state governments is being tested here. The Founders gave the national government enumerated powers and left a lot of authority to the states, but they didn’t spell out every reserve of power in one place. The Tenth Amendment was added to make that division explicit: any power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, is reserved to the states or to the people. This clarifies that states keep broad authority over most matters not granted to the federal government, preserving the balance between national and state power. It was ratified as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791 to address concerns about centralized power.

The other amendments address different issues. The Second Amendment concerns the right to keep and bear arms, the Seventh deals with jury trials in civil cases, and the Fourteenth Amendment focuses on due process and equal protection and extending constitutional protections to state action, rather than establishing the states’ reserved powers.