Ninth Amendment: Rights retained by the people

The text

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Text: National Archives transcription of the amendments in their original form (spelling and punctuation as in the original).

What it means

• The rights listed in the Constitution are not the only rights people have. The government cannot argue that a right does not exist simply because it is not written down.

Who proposed it

James Madison of Virginia introduced the proposals in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789. He drew on state declarations of rights, especially George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), and on the amendments the state ratifying conventions had recommended. The House approved 17 amendments; the Senate cut and combined them to 12, and Congress sent those 12 to the states on September 25, 1789.

When it was proposed and ratified

• Proposed by Congress: September 25, 1789. Congress approved the 12-article joint resolution (House September 24, Senate September 25, 1789).
• Ratified: December 15, 1791. Virginia became the 11th of the 14 states to ratify, completing ratification of Articles 3–12 of the 1789 resolution (Amendments 1–10).

Amendments are not signed into law. Congress proposes them by a two-thirds vote of both houses, and they become part of the Constitution when three-fourths of the states ratify. The President has no formal role (Article V).

Why it was made

The Constitution of 1787 had no bill of rights. Anti-Federalists such as George Mason, who refused to sign it partly for this reason, warned that a strong national government could trample individual liberties. Several states ratified only after recommending amendments, and Federalists promised to add them. Madison kept that promise in the First Congress. The amendments limited only the federal government until the Supreme Court began applying most of them to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment (selective incorporation).

Federalists, including Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 84, argued that a bill of rights could be dangerous: listing some rights might suggest that any right left off the list was unprotected. Madison answered that worry with this amendment.

Key Supreme Court cases

None of the FCLE landmark cases centers on this amendment. See all landmark cases.

FCLE tips

• 9th = unlisted rights of the people; 10th = unlisted powers reserved to states or people.

Related study guide sections

• Chapter 6: Amendment 9
• Chapter 6: The Bill of Rights overview
• All 27 amendments