Level of Education
Doctoral
Keywords
Tenth Amendment, Enumerated Powers, Nullification, Federalism, Founding Principles, Covenantal Founding, Critical Theory, Civil Disobedience, State Sovereignty
Abstract
This past year we have seen an unprecedent grab of power from the State to the federal levels. This has caused many Americans to voice their concerns through civil disobedience. Yet, as we have seen from the summer of 2020 to the electoral vote on 6 January 2021, many Americans have gone beyond civil disobedience and rioted, causing loss of life and destruction of property for their beliefs.
The Founding Fathers were concerned with a central government that exceeded its powers and destroying the powers at the local or State level in favor of federal rule. In Federalist no 45 Madison wrote that there are few and defined roles and responsibilities that the federal government could exercise. This is key as today there is a divided America that has been growing since the early 1800s. This division is increasing at a dramatic rate within the United States through the push of many social theories. Part of this is because since 1919 America no longer sees itself as independent sovereign nations tied under a federalist Constitution, but a sovereign centralized government that can solve all the individual’s needs. Additionally, the States and the citizenry have abandoned the founding principles that Washington, Madison, Jefferson, and others discussed. Personal responsibility for actions described within the Declaration of Independence have been left to the wayside and in 2021 the populace finds themselves asking and receiving money from the federal government, looking to the federal government as its savior. Yet tensions are flaring in part to the pandemic and the restrictions that have been imposed; founding principles being ignored; and State’s ignoring and fragrantly disregarding their Constitutional duties.
This paper addresses the concerns that have arisen over the last year through the display of civil disobedience and rioting. There needs to be a call for adherence of the rule of law, return to the ‘live and let live’ mentality, and a call for federalist solutions within the growing divide of America. The main points of the paper seeks to analyze the root causes for the recent surge in civil disobedience, what founding principles guide todays citizenry, and finally analyze the State’s responsibility through the Constitution and Tenth amendment. In conclusion the paper seeks to identify common solutions across the federalist experiment that could be implemented to return to the ‘Great Experiment’ that our Founding Fathers started.
Included in
Political Science Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons
Constitutional Crisis and the Tenth Amendment: Civil Disobedience, Founding Principles, and the State’s Responsibility
This past year we have seen an unprecedent grab of power from the State to the federal levels. This has caused many Americans to voice their concerns through civil disobedience. Yet, as we have seen from the summer of 2020 to the electoral vote on 6 January 2021, many Americans have gone beyond civil disobedience and rioted, causing loss of life and destruction of property for their beliefs.
The Founding Fathers were concerned with a central government that exceeded its powers and destroying the powers at the local or State level in favor of federal rule. In Federalist no 45 Madison wrote that there are few and defined roles and responsibilities that the federal government could exercise. This is key as today there is a divided America that has been growing since the early 1800s. This division is increasing at a dramatic rate within the United States through the push of many social theories. Part of this is because since 1919 America no longer sees itself as independent sovereign nations tied under a federalist Constitution, but a sovereign centralized government that can solve all the individual’s needs. Additionally, the States and the citizenry have abandoned the founding principles that Washington, Madison, Jefferson, and others discussed. Personal responsibility for actions described within the Declaration of Independence have been left to the wayside and in 2021 the populace finds themselves asking and receiving money from the federal government, looking to the federal government as its savior. Yet tensions are flaring in part to the pandemic and the restrictions that have been imposed; founding principles being ignored; and State’s ignoring and fragrantly disregarding their Constitutional duties.
This paper addresses the concerns that have arisen over the last year through the display of civil disobedience and rioting. There needs to be a call for adherence of the rule of law, return to the ‘live and let live’ mentality, and a call for federalist solutions within the growing divide of America. The main points of the paper seeks to analyze the root causes for the recent surge in civil disobedience, what founding principles guide todays citizenry, and finally analyze the State’s responsibility through the Constitution and Tenth amendment. In conclusion the paper seeks to identify common solutions across the federalist experiment that could be implemented to return to the ‘Great Experiment’ that our Founding Fathers started.
