On June 8, 1789, James Madison introduced a series of constitutional amendments that would become the Bill of Rights. Madison emphasized the need for these rights to be protected not only from the federal government but also from state governments, stating, "the state governments are as liable to attack these invaluable privileges as the general [national] government is, and therefore ought to be as cautiously guarded against."

Originally, the Bill of Rights applied solely to the federal government. The First Amendment, for example, prohibits Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Under this framework, states could enact laws restricting these rights without violating the federal Constitution, unless their own state constitutions provided protections.

An example of such state authority occurred in 1831 when the Georgia legislature authorized a $5,000 bounty to be paid by the Governor for the arrest and prosecution of anyone distributing the abolitionist paper "The Liberator" within the state.

This dynamic changed with the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868. Jacob Howard (R-Mich.), who introduced the amendment in the Senate in 1866, explained that the existing "mass of privileges, immunities, and rights" secured by the Constitution "do not operate in the slightest degree as a restraint or prohibition upon State legislation." He stated that the primary purpose of the 14th Amendment's first section was "to restrict the power of the States and compel them at all times to respect these great fundamental guarantees."

Thus, the 14th Amendment extended the reach of the Bill of Rights, ensuring that states could no longer infringe upon fundamental rights guaranteed by the federal Constitution.

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