Primary source · 1787 / 1791
U.S. Constitution — Preamble, Article I §8, Tenth Amendment
Public domain. Hosted on Life Academy. Cite the clause: (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8) or (U.S. Const. amend. X).
Preamble. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article I, Section 8 (opening). The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States… To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes… To coin Money… To declare War…
Tenth Amendment (1791). 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.
Enumerated means written down. Reserved means leftover. When someone says “that’s federal” or “states’ rights,” the adult move is: point to a clause.