The Plessy V. Ferguson Court Case

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The Civil Rights Movement was a time where African Americans tried to gain equality during the 1950’s to 1960’s. As time progressed, African Americans fought and fought for their rights. Unfortunately, others were not very welcoming of this idea. As a demonstration of beliefs and struggle, blacks began to boycott and protest. One man, Homer Plessy refused to move to a black train car when asked. This eventually started the Plessy v. Ferguson Court Case. Plessy V. Ferguson decided the “separate but equal” doctrine, meaning that the black and whites could have separate facilities, as long as they were the same in equality. In 1890, U.S government officials decided to put the Separate Car Act into place in Louisiana. One year later, a group of Creole professionals came together to decide if the Act was unconstitutional. They then decided it did not violate any ideas or statements in the Constitution of the United States. Then, in 1896, the topic had to be discussed when Homer Plessy (⅞ white, ⅛ black) was asked to go to a train car for blacks. After refusing to leave his seat, he was …show more content…
On May 18th, the final decision was a 7-1 vote, saying “separate but equal”, one court member was absent due to illness. Justice Henry Billings Brown concluded the case by saying, “Segregation does not in itself constitute unlawful discrimination,” (Oyez.org). This decision upheld state imposed racial segregation (Oyez). It also formed the basis of segregation for about fifty years (worldbookonline). The “separate but equal” doctrine stated that black and whites could have separate facilities, as long as they were equal (Oyez). Before the case, almost all white facilities were in much better condition than the ones belonging to the blacks. This dramatically changed civil rights because although blacks were still separated, they had at least some equality that went a long way in their fight

Plessy V. Ferguson Supreme Court Case

Jim Crow laws were supposed to be “separated-but-equal”, but after Plessy v. Ferguson decision the laws were not equal at all for the black people. The laws took away the rights and freedom of blacks, and the Supreme Court decision legalized segregation. That created more Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws affect the daily lives of blacks by separating them from public spaces, transportation, and it took away most of their voting rights. First, the Separate Car act made blacks sit in a different car than…

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Plessy Vs Ferguson

example of this is the Plessy v. Ferguson supreme court case. Legally classified as black by the South’s “one drop rule”, Homer Plessy entered a “whites-only” railway car on the East Louisiana Railroad (Jager). A local New Orleans group called the Committee of Citizens planned this as a test case, so the railroad was advised of his racial status before he boarded (Jager). They selected lawyer Albion Tourgee to take on the defense and on the 18th of May, 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson went to appeal to the…

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Plessy V. Ferguson Case

Plessy v. Ferguson: A Landmark Case and its Impact on “Separate but Equal” Throughout the South in the 1880s and 1890s, there was a big difference made between Caucasian and African Americans. African Americans were not allowed to eat in the same place. (Swann-Wright, p. 10) On May 18, 1896, the US Supreme Court had issued a ruling that inaugurated “Separate but equal” racial segregation. (Marquand, p. 10) The Plessy v. Ferguson case was dealing with the law that was adopted in 1890 that provides…

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Plessy Vs Ferguson Case Study

During both cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, the Court had to make a decision whether blacks should be considered equal. The Plessy v. Ferguson case was caused because a passenger named Homer Plessy refused to sit in what was considered a “blacks only” car, which the laws that Louisiana has in place. Plessy made an appearance in front of Judge Ferguson, who argued against the Supreme Court that Plessy’s actions interfered with the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment of the…

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Plessy V. Ferguson Case Study

The case of Plessy v. Ferguson is an African-American man buying a first class train ticket in Louisiana and being told to go to the black section of the train. However, the man, Homer Plessy refused to go to the black section and was forcefully arrested for going against the Separate Car Act of 1890. The Separate Car Act allowed for African-Americans to be segregated on trains and the punishment for wrongdoing was a $25 dollar fine and up to twenty days in jail. Homer Plessy went against the act…

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Supreme Court Case: Plessy Vs. Ferguson

situation in the Supreme Court case entitled Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. In this controversial case, a man by the name of Homer Plessy was one-eighth black. This man was convicted of breaking a Louisiana law that stated that train cars had to be separated between whites and blacks. Plessy bought a train ticket and sat in the white-only car. He was convicted and imprisoned for violating the law. He was found guilty by Judge John Ferguson. Plessy filed a petition against Ferguson arguing that the ruling…

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Supreme Court Cases Essay

Lab/Period 8 th March 18 2015 WA#1 The Supreme Court, also known as the land’s “high court”, is the highest Federal court in the United States. It was created in Article III of the Constitution to promise the American people equivalent justice under law. Its purpose is to make a final judgment in cases having to do with laws of Congress and the highest document of all, the Constitution. The Constitution institutes the power, to the Supreme Court, to check the actions of the President and Congress…

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Dred Scott Case Summary

How the Supreme Court Advocated for Segregation. By 1877, reconstruction had ended. Slowly but surely, states began to pass more laws regarding race and chipped away the gains in civil rights made after the Civil War. By 1890, segregation was firmly in place in both the north and south, originating from local practices and customs that began before the Civil War. In 1883, the court interpreted the 14th amendment as only applying at the federal level, and private institutions were allowed to discriminate…

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The Separate Car Act By Homer Plessy

be separated in railroad cars. In 1892, Homer Plessy bought a first class ticket and sat in the whites only car. Although Plessy had the appearance of a white man he was still arrested and was bought to trial in a New Orleans court. Later on, he filed a petition against the judge, John H. Ferguson. Plessy argued that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th amendment which provided him equal treatment under the law but the judge over his case ruled that Louisiana had the right to make their…

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Supreme Court Cases: Segregation And Freedom

Three court cases form long ago gave people freedom and took away segregation. Everyone is now allowed to sit with anyone of any race because of the cases. They also had a great impact on slavery. The people hurting others were ignorant and to them, their feelings were unknown Three Supreme Court cases influenced the civil rights movement by helping get rid of segregation and gain more freedom (Dred Scott v Sanford, Plessy v Ferguson & Shelley v Kraemer). In Dred Scott v Sanford, the case gave more…

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