Tenth Amendment Center

05/31/2026

When States Had Backbone: The Showdown They Never Teach

Leading federalists - Daniel Webster, Caleb Strong, Theophilus Parsons and others -

Supported states defying federal orders to call forth the militia during "Mr Madison's War"

Does the federal government have unilateral power to call forth the militia? During the War of 1812, New England states not only said no, but they used the p...

05/31/2026

“When our rights are invaded, it is high time to throw aside prudence”

James Otis Jr knew - When government becomes the invader, the response must match the threat.

Even when that means risking everything,

05/31/2026

This “can only end in despotism”

Benjamin Franklin made that prediciton on Sept 17, 1787 - the day the Constitution was signed in Philadelphia.

But he wasn’t talking about the document. He said this would happen “when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other.”

In other words - he warned us - about us.

05/31/2026

Government-run "education" has a vested interest in keeping the people ignorant about the power of government.

And that's a dangerous situation.

Ignorance and Freedom Cannot Coexist 👇

Thomas Jefferson knew the drill. Without knowledge of our rights, our Constitution, and the limits of government power, there's no way the people can stay - or even be - free.

05/31/2026

⛓️ YOU OWN YOU. NOT GOVERNMENT.

You own your life.
You own your property.
The government does not.

Their power over you is not absolute,
and it is not arbitrary. It is strictly limited.

Samuel Adams stated this as a non-negotiable fact:
"The Legislative has no right to absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people"

05/31/2026

“It is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”

Samuel Adams didn’t think it was just a good idea, but a moral duty no matter how difficult or dangerous it might be.

“The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards”

05/30/2026

🇺🇸 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

That's how Thomas Jefferson described the 10th Amendment.

Not just an afterthought - but the structure of the entire system.
If it's not delegated to the federal government
it's reserved to the states or to the people themselves.

05/30/2026

Tyrants aren’t powerful because they’re inherently strong.

Thomas Paine was right.

They gain power when the people are weak.
“The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it”

05/30/2026

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters”

Freedom isn’t a gift from politicians or a guarantee on paper –

Benjamin Franklin called it -
it’s a status that has to be earned and defended in order to be kept.

05/30/2026

🚫 No Federal "Gun to the Head"

Anti-commandeering:
the feds can’t boss the states around

Not with orders
or even funding threats

That's unconstitutional "coercion"👇

While the feds do have the authority to disperse money, the anti-commandeering doctrine limits the federal government’s ability to use funding in a coercive manner.