The fourteenth amendment was critically important for civil liberties because it
guaranteed freed slaves the right to vote
outlawed slavery
start the process of selective incorporation of the bill of rights
allowed the states to continue to enact black codes

   Helped start the process of selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights

Explanation:  The Fourteenth Amendment of the American Constitution, ratified in 1868, whose primary task was the gradual inclusion of freed slaves in the enjoyment of all human rights, following the Civil War in America. This Amendment gives citizenship to those who were born to naturalized Americans, as well as former slaves.

The very fact of owning a citizenship should provide everyone with the rights, immunities, obligations and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution, and no US state can abolish any of these rights or enact and enforce a law abrogating those rights. Nor can any state enforce a criminal measure against someone without a legally prescribed legal process.

answer; i believe that the correct answer is (decreased)