Final answer:
The first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, were primarily designed to restrict the powers of the federal government, including ensuring personal freedoms and specifying the reserved powers for states. The correct answer is option: b. The federal government.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were originally intended to limit only the power of the federal government. These amendments were put in place to protect citizens from power abuses by the national government, ensuring personal freedoms and setting a framework within which the federal government could operate.
The Tenth Amendment in particular articulates this principle by stating that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.