Barron v. Baltimore - Significance

Barron established the principle that the rights enumerated in the first ten amendments (the "Bill of Rights") do not limit the powers of the states. This legal doctrine was not reversed until the twentieth century, when the Supreme Court gradually incorporated the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment.

Early in the nineteenth century, John Barron and John Craig owned a large and profitable wharf at Baltimore, Maryland. The older sections of Baltimore's harbor often became filled with stagnant water, garbage, and debris. Trying to end this health hazard, the city council carried out an extensive public works program between 1815 and 1821. Contractors regraded and paved streets, built embankments, and diverted streams toward the wharf.