State's rights is a direct result of the issue of slavery. Individual liberties have been attacked more often by states than the federal government.

Regarding the 14th Amendment- the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights were originally considered to ONLY apply to the federal government. States could (and did) violate those rights on a regular basis. The Bill of Rights didn't get considered to be applied to states until well after 1900 despite the passage of the 15th Amendment