What is the purpose of the final 2 amendments?

Answer 1

9. Citizens have rights that aren't listed within the Constitution.

10. Licensing, certification, and local issues will be delegated to the state governments.

The idea is to delegate some power away from the federal government. The tenth amendment delegates certain powers to the state governments. The ninth amendment delegates certain, broad powers to each individual citizen.

Answer 2

Amendment XVI (26)

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XVII (27)

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

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The 26th amendment sets a standard (maximum) age at which people are granted the right to vote across the country, and sets the last of the "Suffrage" or Voting Rights amendments (joining the 15th and 19th amendments on racial and women's rights to vote).

Notes indicate that the amendment came about during the Vietnam War, and had to do with the government being able to declare war (or not), draft 18 yr olds and send them to war, and the 18 yr olds not having representation.

The 27th amendment is unique. It was part of the original Bill of Rights (Article the second), and thus was the longest ratified amendment from the date it was proposed until the date it was ratified on May 5, 1992.

It essentially is designed to prevent congress from acting in their own self interest to give themselves a pay raise. If the people didn't approve, they could vote 1/3 of the Senate and 100% of the house members out of office before it took effect.

I suppose it is ambiguous whether a "new congress" could actually repeal a sham pay raise before it took effect.

There are notes that the ratification of the amendment took place as a response to a few unpopular self imposed pay raises enacted by congress.