States' rights

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/states-rights

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What are states' rights?States' rights mean that each state can make its own rules for things that the federal government doesn't control. The U.S. Constitution says that powers not given to the federal government are kept for the states or the people.
2. Why do some people think states should have more power?Some people, like Thomas Jefferson, believed that giving states more power would keep the national government from becoming too powerful and taking away people's freedoms.

Federalism: A system of government characterized by the division of powers between a national government and constituent political units (states).
Enumerated Powers: Powers explicitly granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution, primarily in Article I, Section 8.
Supremacy Clause: Article VI of the Constitution, establishing that federal laws and the Constitution are the supreme law of the land.