After the Civil War, the federal tyranny tried to remove the image the United States is a collection of sovereign states that are unified for limited purposes such as defense and interstate commerce. There are the two things the federal government is supposed to do. In creating this image, the 14th Amendment was shortly passed.
However, there is controversy surrounding the 14th Amendment, as noted in the Alabama Law Review. It appears the 14th Amendment may be illegal and was never ratified through the legal channels. This isn't the first time in history we have heard this story. There is a similar controversy surrounding the Federal Reserve Act and the 16th Amendment, which has a shady history in 1913, another year that destroyed the vision of the Founding Fathers.
Here's what the Alabama Law Review has to say about ratification of the 14th Amendment.
Was the 14th Amendment Ratified