The Constitution
Eleventh Amendment
The 1795 amendment barring federal suits against a state by citizens of another state, the textual anchor of modern state sovereign immunity.
In full
It was adopted to overturn Chisholm v. Georgia, which had allowed such a suit. Doctrine has since extended well beyond the text to bar most federal suits against a state by its own citizens as well. The main workarounds are suits against state officials for prospective relief, congressional abrogation under the Fourteenth Amendment, and a state's own waiver.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.