<P> Incorporation , in U.S. law , is the process by which American courts have applied portions of the U.S. Bill of Rights to the states . When it was first ratified , the Bill of Rights only protected the rights it enumerated from federal infringement , allowing states and local governments to abridge them . However , beginning in 1897 with Chicago , Burlington and Quincy Railroad v. City of Chicago , various portions have been held to be incorporated against state and local government through the Fourteenth Amendment . </P>
<P> Incorporation , in U.S. law , is the process by which American courts have applied portions of the U.S. Bill of Rights to the states . When it was first ratified , the Bill of Rights only protected the rights it enumerated from federal infringement , allowing states and local governments to abridge them . However , beginning in 1897 with Chicago , Burlington and Quincy Railroad v. City of Chicago , various portions have been held to be incorporated against state and local government through the Fourteenth Amendment . </P>
the bill of rights applies to the states through this amendment
the bill of rights applies to the states through this amendment
the Fourteenth Amendment
the Fourteenth Amendment