PLESSY V FERGUSON
PLESSY V FERGUSON
1896
1896
Embedded Files
"Negro Expulsion from Railroad Car, Philadelphia", The Illustrated London News, 1856 November 1910. NAACP. (Library of Congress)
Several students contributed to this event page. Read all of their accounts below:
One of the most significant moments defining African American history pertains to the Plessy v Ferguson case of 1896. Homer Plessy, a man of one eighth African American ancestry, challenged the Separate Car Act of 1890, which prohibited white and black people from riding railway cars together by sitting in the section meant for whites only and refused to leave after being asked by the conductor (Roy). This case similarly challenges the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, in which states are prohibited from restricting “equal protection of the laws'' (Duignan). Eventually brought to the Supreme Court, in a eight to one decision, the Court ruled against Plessy’s argument that Separate Car Act violated his right to equal protection. In attempts to justify this, the precedent of “separate but equal” was set in place (Roy). This ruling was the leading cause in the legal sanction of racial segregation throughout the United States. By supposedly providing equal services and facilities for people of color, many loopholes were left in place to continue the racial hierarchy of white people being superior to African Americans after the end of the Reconstruction period. The constitutional justification of segregation similarly ensured the status of Jim Crow laws and the Black Codes of the South for the next 50 years until the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954 overturned this ruling (Roy).
Written by Sanjna Moola
In the 19th century two spheres of life were created due to the Jim Crow laws. One was white and the other black. In 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson was a court case which tried to challenge the “separate but equal” doctrine, but the Supreme Court voted in favor of racial segregation (Sherman-Fells). This case started when Homer Plessy “on June 7, 1892, he entered a car for white passengers”(Leiter). Plessy violated the Separate Car Act which in 1890 segregated rail cars in Louisiana (Sherman-Fells). Eventually Plessy petitioned the Supreme Court in hopes of changing the narrative. His case was argued by lawyer Albion Tourgee who argued that the doctrine of “separate but equal” meant to demean and distinguish the African American race (Leiter). However the Supreme Court did not agree with them ruling 8-1 stating that “separation of persons by race does not imply the inferiority of either race to the other” (Leiter). This ruling was extremely significant dictating the future of America for years to come. The doctrine of “separate but equal” was regarded as adequate for over 60 years after the ruling (Leiter 3). Finally in 1954 this case was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education (Sherman-Fells). Additionally, Plessy v. Ferguson gave southern legislatures the encouragement they needed to intensify the creation of Jim Crow laws. This caused many violations to black civil rights for years to come (Leiter). It also defined more clearly what the meaning of Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendment was (Sherman-Fells). Overall Plessy v. Ferguson was a monumental case in America changing the direction of American society for years to come.
Written by Raag Desikan
Towards the end of the Reconstruction era in the 1870s, southern Democrats began gaining substantial political power for the first time since the Civil War, as Republicans moved away from reform efforts in the South. (Sherman-Fells) With less effort to mitigate racial inequality, Southern states began imposing laws and policies that discriminated against blacks, usually doing this through racial segregation against Black citizens. Policies like these were known as Jim Crow Laws. (Hewitt and Lawson 402) Some, like the New Orleans shoemaker Homer Plessy, wanted to challenge this discrimination. Plessy was a black man with relatively light skin, so he was able to pass as white. He boarded a public railcar, and entered the “White Only” section. He then announced that he was not white, but a Black man, and directly refused to move to the “Black Only” section, resulting in his arrest (Sherman-Fells). Plessy had boarded the railcar for the sole purpose of defying the policy that made him stay in a different section than whites, and had fully intended to be arrested. He did this for the purpose of bringing his case to court, to challenge the segregation opposed by him and other southern blacks. (Sherman-Fells) When Plessy was ruled against in his District Court, then again in the Louisiana Supreme Court, he appealed his case to the Supreme Court of the United States. The ruling was that the separation of whites and blacks on railcars was “separate but equal”, and therefore did not go against the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Hewitt and Lawson, 402). Plessy was deemed guilty of civil disobedience. The Supreme Court’s ruling essentially justified this principle of “separate but equal”, meaning that Southern states now had the power to freely segregate people of color using Jim Crow laws. (Sherman-Fells) The result was that segregation became extremely prominent southern states, not just in railcars, but in all kinds of public facilities. For example, the above photo depicts a black man drinking from a segregated water fountain. Ultimately, the result of the Plessy v. Ferguson case gave southern Democrats more room to create a society that discriminated against blacks.
Written by Arjun Kumar
The Plessy v. Ferguson case, which took place in 1896, is an example of how emancipation does not mean equality. This case took place after Homer Plessy intentionally violated the “Separate Car Act,” which enforced segregation of rail cars on the basis of race. Plessy, a man ⅞ white and ⅛ Black, bought a ticket to sit in the “white only” section of the car then stated once inside that he was a black man (Plessy v. Ferguson). The conductor demanded that Plessy moved to the “black only” car, and when he refused he was arrested. Plessy then went to court arguing in front of Judge Ferguson that the “Separate Car Act'' violated the 13th and 14th amendment, which failed and Plessy had to pay a fine (Sherman-Fells). This case shows the growing power of Southern politicians, as freedpeople began to fall back into a similar role that took place before emancipation. The “Jim Crow Laws'' where people would be segregated based on the color of their skin enforced this idea (Sherman-Fells). It was supposed to be “separate but equal” but it never was. With the failed case, it showed how much Southern Democrats could now get away with. Black people may have been free, but they never really were free because of the little opportunity and room for growth in society. With separate school systems, black children would never receive as strong of an education as white children, and made it very difficult to obtain better jobs. Laws enforcing segregation continued the racial hierarchy that had always been a part of America’s identity.
Written by Bram Silva
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"African American Man Expelled from 'Whites Only' Railroad Car (1856)." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2021, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/2190126.
Duignan, Brian. “Plessy v. Ferguson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/event/Plessy-v-Ferguson-1896#ref288363.
Hewitt, Nancy A., and Steven F. Lawson. Exploring American Histories: a Survey. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2019.
Leiter, Richard A., and Roy M. Mersky. “Plessy v. Ferguson.” Civil Rights and Equal Protection, Facts On File, 2017. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17283&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=357900
“Plessy v. Ferguson.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson.
"Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2021, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/254860. Accessed 14 Feb. 2021.
Roy, Johnny. “Plessy v. Ferguson.” Apprend, 22 Feb. 2019, apprend.io/apush/period-6/plessy-v-ferguson/.
"Segregated Water Fountain." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2021, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/294250.
"Segregated Drinking Fountains." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2021, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/327795.
Sherman-Fells, Dawn M. "Plessy v. Ferguson." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2021, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1591684.
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