The city of Chicago went to court to condemn a piece of property owned by a railroad in order to connect two separate sections of a street. After the condemnation was successful and the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, the railroad sought review in the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming that the city had taken its property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Although the Court ruled for the city, the case marked the first time the Court applied a specific provision of the Bill of Rights to the states by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process clause.