After the civil war the supreme court tended to view economic regulation as something that

attacked or assaulted property rights.

Explanation:

After the civil war, the supreme court held the idea that any government regulation (especially economic regulation) denied private businesses of their property rights and liberties, which constituted a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed equal and legal rights to all US citizens (businesses were included as citizens) and guaranteed that no government (state or federal) shall deny any citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

We have to remember that these were sensible times and the supreme court tried to protect the newly given rights specially to African Americans, but sometimes business people are very capable of using ideological trends in their favor.