a brief describtion of the 10 th amendment?

Answer 1

The 10th Amendment has never changed, it is just being ignored.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, lawmakers at least paid lip-service to the 10th and the rest of the Constituion.

But now they know the courts will not force them to follow the 10th so they just do what they want.

But the purpose of the 10th Amendment is to state, in plain language, that the federal government is supposed to be LIMITED and that STATES are the soverign parts of this nation, with an overiding responsibility to the free PEOPLE of the nation.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibitied by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Answer 2

Originally, it was intended as a limit on federal action -- allowing the federal govt to do only what it was explicitly authorized to do in the constitution. Also, it allowed the states to have broad power within their own jurisdiction, unrestrained except by Article VI (the Supremacy Clause) and the few specific restrictions in Articles I and IV.

Around the early 1900s, it changed -- now it means the federal govt can do pretty much anything it wants, and the states get anything left over.