own itself less likely to invalidate a law because it infringed upon an economic liberty.
During the Nineteenth Century, the Court was more willing to protect economic rights and liberties than in the Twentieth Century. In part, this was a reflection of the interests of the framers of the Constitution, who had sought to preserve their economic liberties against encroachment by the British government. The right to hold property was considered a fundamental human right, and the Court protected the interests of all sorts of businessmen (including slave owners) against laws and governmental actions which proscribed certain uses of property. The height of this protection was reached in the first three decades of the Twentieth Century. At this time, the Court held that various economic rights, including the right to enter into contracts, were so fundamental that they were protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This gave a "substantive" element to the Due Process Clause, which meant that almost no law could infringe upon these rights without running afoul of th
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