Answer:
The United States Constitution vests the federal government with only specific powers. Powers not enumerated in the U.S. Constitution are reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment. This system of federalism is intended to preserve each state’s autonomy, but more importantly to protect individual rights. To that end, the Founding Fathers also spelled out some of our fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights. Among other rights, these specially protected rights include protections against unreasonable searches and seizures of property, a guarantee that private property will not be taken but for a public purpose without just compensation, and an assurance of the right to free speech. Furthermore, the Founding Fathers sought to protect all other natural rights against usurpation by adopting the Ninth Amendment, which provides that the Constitution shall not be construed as disparaging other rights retained by the people.
Unfortunately, the original intentions of the framers have been lost in the modern era. Whereas the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights intended to limit the scope of federal powers, today the federal government holds the power to regulate most aspects of our lives. Still, we are left with the Bill of Rights, which imposes certain limitations on what government may require of us, and how it may impose burdens upon us.
