As a result, they limited the role of corporations by only granting select corporate charters, mainly to those that were beneficial to society as a whole. For the better part of the first one hundred years of United States history, the power of corporations was severely limited as owners could not own any stock or property, make financial donations to a political party, and legislators could dissolve a corporation at any time relatively easily. Corporations did not have the same corporate veil of protection that are enjoyed today. The shift towards corporations gaining more power and control happened as the United States progressed towards industrialization. The American Civil War wildly enriched corporations and with this new wealth came bribes to legislators and courts that allowed for increased liability protection and other corporate protections. The 1886 Supreme Court case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad set the important legal precedent that corporations were “natural people” and as a result were protected under the 14th Amendment. General information The articles of incorporation outline the governance of a corporation along with the corporate bylaws and the corporate statutes in the state where articles of incorporation are filed. To amend a corporate charter, the amendment must usually be approved by the company's board of directors and voted on by the company's shareholders. The articles of incorporation typically include the name of the corporation, the type of corporate structure (e.g. profit corporation, nonprofit corporation, benefit corporation, professional corporation), the registered agent, the number of authorized shares, the effective date, the duration (perpetual by default), and the names and signatures of the incorporators. The state fee to file articles of incorporation to incorporate a profit corporation range from $50 - $300, and to incorporate a nonprofit corporation range from $0 -$125. How to file The first step in filing articles of incorporation is for the owners to decide which state to incorporate the business in. Once the state has been chosen, the documents with all the corporation’s information have to be filled out, whether physically or virtually. Once completed, these documents will be reviewed by the secretary of state’s office, and upon approval from the state government and payment of a filing fee, the company has officially become a legal corporation. The following information is required upon filing Articles of Incorporation in the United States: Name of the Business Location of Business Whether or not