The Tenth Amendment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Tenth Amendment - Research Paper Example Without the Tenth Amendment, the Federal Government can actually dictate all the states’ behavior and laws, and the Founding Fathers did not want a remote, strange power to rule them over from afar. As much as possible, they wanted to retain their local laws; the ones that they made specifically for themselves. However, after several years and loopholes, the idea of preserving the local laws against the powers of the federal government has changed. Many people want to secede the Tenth Amendment because the Federal Government is still on everyone’s lives even if the Tenth Amendment is still on effect. History of the Tenth Amendment To better understand the modern-day issue of the Tenth Amendment, one should look back at its roots and check out the reasons why it has been added in the Bill of Rights. One should remember that there was no United States before, only states (colonies) that were under the British Empire, and they rebelled together. These thirteen colonies gai ned their independence from the British Empire on July 2, 1776. Now as soon as they declared independence, these thirteen colonies immediately became sovereign states. ... It was Richard Henry Lee of Virginia who proposed to Congress on June 6, 1776 that â€Å"That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.† During the summer of 1777, the Congress studied the plan and the bill was ratified and formally adopted by Congress on November 1977. This was now known as the Articles of Confederation. With this article, each state had to choose whether or not it wants to be a part of the new Union or not. On March 1, 1781, Maryland was the last state to join the Union and has ratified the article. Thus, on that date, the thirteen states became one nation. The major reason why the people took so long to decide whether or not they want to become part of the Union was their fear of losing their local rights to a new government, which is now â€Å"national†. One must understand that they were just freed from an imperialist government, and they were tentative about forming a ne w one, for the fear making another tyrannical government that they will help create. Thus, they made an effort to control the powers of their new government. The Founding Fathers included this statement in the Articles of Confederation as the Article II: â€Å"Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.† With this article, the Founding Fathers made it clear that they only wanted the Central Government to have limited power. However, this new form of government was so weak that it can’t even collect taxes that it eventually dissolved. In lieu of that, they made the Constitution of the United States. Like the Articles, the Constitution