During the late nineteenth century,the equal protection clause was

A) severely limited in scope by the Supreme Court.
B) ruled unconstitutional.
C) more strongly defended by individual states than by the federal government.
D) not implemented because of a lack of tax revenue.

During the late nineteenth century, the Supreme Court severely limited the scope of the equal protection clause through decisions such as Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which established the "separate but equal" doctrine and upheld racial segregation. This allowed for widespread discrimination against African Americans and other minorities.