- [Instructor] What we're gonna do in this video
is talk a little bit more about federal powers
versus state powers, and as we've mentioned in other videos,
this is a relevant topic because even today
you'll have Supreme Court decisions being decided
based on citing different parts of the Constitution
or various amendments that seem to give one power or another
more to the federal government or to the state government.
Another important appreciation is the balance of power
or the shifts of power between federal and state.
It has historically changed over time,
so it isn't this fixed thing.
So in a previous video, we talked about
the enumerated powers that the Constitution gives
the federal government.
In particular, we have talked about the Commerce Clause
that allows the federal government "to regulate Commerce
among the several states,"
which has turned out to be a much farther-reaching power
than maybe the drafters of the Constitution intended.
And then, the thing that really gives power
to even the enumerated powers
is the necessary and proper clause.
"To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper
"for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers,"
and so this is what we talk about,
this necessary and proper clause,
creates a lot of implied powers.
So you can imagine, this isn't,
the necessary and proper clause is not something
that made the Antifederalists very happy.
They were worried about power grabs
by the federal government.
And so you have the Bill of Rights
which are the first 10 amendments.
And the 9th and 10th amendment in particular
are Antifederalists' attempt
to limit the federal government's power.
So the 9th Amendment says,
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
"shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
"retained by the people," and even more important,
the 10th Amendment, and this is really speaking to
federal versus state powers, "The powers not delegated
"to the United States by the Constitution,"
so not delegated to the federal government,
"nor prohibited by it," the federal government,
"to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
"or to the people," and so you could view this
as reserved powers for the states.
It's an Antifederalist attempt to say,
"Hey, you know, the federal government can't just
"do whatever it wants."
It's trying to put a little bit of a check
on the necessary and proper clause.
So if you fast-forward to the period right
after the Civil War, you have the 13th Amendment,
which bans slavery, and then you have the 14th Amendment,
which is trying to bring slaves into society,
allow them to be citizens, not just them
but their descendants, and this is in direct contradiction
of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that we'll talk about
in other videos where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that slaves and their descendants are not considered
American citizens and so they don't have a right
to petition the government, but the 14th Amendment says,
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States,
"and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens
"of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.
"No State shall make or enforce any law,"
and so this is actually putting constraints on states,
and so as we'll see, even though this is in the context
of the post-Civil War era, because it's putting constraints
on states, this is one of the amendments
that's often cited that puts more power
in the hands of the federal government.
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall
"abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
"of the United States; nor shall any State
"deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
"without due process of law; nor deny to any person
"within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
The 14th Amendment has been very relevant
in some very current debates.
This notion of that any state, no state,
can deprive any person of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law,
this is often known as the due process clause
and it's this idea that no state can really strip away
some of the rights that might be articulated in say
The Bill of Rights, "nor deny to any person
"within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
This is often known as the equal protection clause.
This is, you could view it as a protection against
some form of discrimination.
And so even in very current debates
around things like abortion or same-sex marriage,
much of the debate will center around the 14th Amendment.