This short amendment was a compromise between two factions of the founding fathers: the Anti-federalists and the Federalists.
The Anti-federalists did not want an overly strong federal government. They feared that a powerful national government would become tyrannical and take away people’s natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, they wanted to make certain there was a clear Bill of Rights in the Constitution to keep power in check.
The opposing faction, the Federalists, believed that people had self-evident, unalienable rights: equality, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. They feared that if they included a specified Bill of Rights, some future tyrant would take away ALL rights that were not specifically listed in a Bill of Rights. They said our natural rights were more than could be enumerated in the Constitution.
The compromise was carried out by James Madison, who, inspired by the Virginia Declaration of Rights (along with other documents), wrote out the 10 Amendments of the Bill of Rights. Amendment IX clarifies that just because a right is listed in the Constitution, doesn’t mean that other rights are invalidated.
This in many ways is a reframe of Article 12 in the pre-amended Constitution. (Article 12: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.)
The transcript comes from National Archives (archives.gov)
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Leave a Reply