The 10th Amendment: An affirmative limit on Congress? James W. Pfister Federalism is the relationship between two sovereigns: state government and federal government, guided by the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, Article VI, Section 2. Once the power of the federal government attaches to something, it is, “…complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent, and acknowledges no limitations, other than are prescribed in the constitution.” (Chief Justice John Marshall in Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824). The first nine amendments in the Bill of Rights constitute such a limitation; does the last one, the 10th Amendment, also constitute a limitation? The 10th Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States (i.e., federal government) by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States (i.e., Article I, Section 10), are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This power of states is derived from Article II of our first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation. There, the states retained all power, “…not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.” Notice the first Constitution used the narrowing term “expressly delegated,” while the 10th Amendment leaves out the term “expressly.” That means the 10th Amendment allows for “implied” powers for Congress in addition to its delegated powers, which Chief Justice John Marshall expanded in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).