The saying goes “as long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools.” And individual students can indeed pray for straight A’s or for other reasons. But the Supreme Court decision in Engel v. Vitale (1962) held that official recitation of prayers in public schools violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The ruling is hailed by some as a victory for religious freedom, while criticized by others as striking a blow to the nation’s religious traditions.

In this Homework Help narrative, learn about the constitutional principle of incorporation and its historic context. After the passage of the 14th Amendment, the Due Process Clause caused many national and state debates, leading to the idea of incorporation and the fundamental question of whether the Bill of Rights applies to states as well as the federal government. Has incorporating the Bill of Rights to apply to the states created greater liberty for Americans?

The Bill of Rights, setting limitations on Congress, originally applied only to the national government. In the effort to protect individual rights of the freedmen, the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868. It differs from every previous amendment because it limits what state governments may do. Over the next seventy-five years, the Court’s use of the Fourteenth Amendment increased. It used the Due Process clause in that amendment to strike down many state laws and to selectively incorporate parts of the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment so as to make them apply to states as well as the federal government. This practice, known as “incorporation,” increased the Supreme Court’s power to define rights for the entire Union, and reduced the power of the states as compared to federal power. It also reduced the power of Congress as opposed to the Supreme Court, to define which rights are properly constitutional. This changed the meaning of the Bill of Rights from a series of limits on government power to a set of rights belonging to the individual and guaranteed by the federal government.

The Supreme Court has long struggled to establish a single test to determine what constitutes a violation of the First Amendment’s ban against the government establishing a religion. This week, the Court will hear oral arguments in the case of American Legion v. American Humanist Assc., which could change that. After World War I, a group of mothers in Bladensburg, Maryland funded a cross-shaped memorial to honor their sons who were killed in Europe.