Common Lit Plessy v. Ferguson Ms. Mulligan
In this informational text, Jessica McBirney discusses a landmark Supreme Court case known as Plessy v. Ferguson. The case challenged racial segregation in public areas in the late 19th century. As you read, take notes on what happened after the Plessy v. Ferguson decision.
By 1896 the Civil War was over, and the amendments prohibiting1 slavery and ensuring equal rights for all citizens had been part of the U.S. Constitution for more than 25 years. But racial tensions across the country were incredibly high, and African Americans continued to experience oppression2 even though they were no longer slaves. 1896 was the year that the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. In this case, the court determined that racial segregation in public areas was acceptable and legal, as long as the segregated facilities were “equal.” This case cemented the racial tensions and segregation that were heightened during the decades after the Civil War, and it ensured that African Americans would face explicit3 and legal oppression for the next 60 years
THE CASE
The case began in 1892 when a man named Homer Plessy purchased a first-class train ticket for a whites-only car in Louisiana. Plessy was one-eighth black by heritage, but in the state of Louisiana he was legally considered black. Two years earlier, the state of Louisiana passed a law requiring racial segregation of train cars. To protest the law, a group of concerned black, Creole, and white Louisiana citizens, called the Committee of Citizens, convinced Plessy to intentionally buy a ticket for a whites-only car. They expected push-back and wanted to challenge the law in court. As they predicted, the train company knew Plessy was coming and had him arrested almost as soon as he stepped into the car.
Plessy’s case made its way through the Louisiana court system. His lawyers argued that the law mandating4 rail car segregation was unconstitutional because of the 14th Amendment, which ensured equal protection under the law for all citizens. Their opponent, the state of Louisiana, argued that the 14th Amendment only applied to nationwide laws, not state-specific laws. The courts all sided against Plessy, but he and his lawyers kept appealing until they made it to the Supreme Court.
SUPREME COURT: A FINAL VERDICT
Segregation was common across the country by the 1890s, not just in the South. Even Massachusetts segregated their public schools. It was clear that whatever the Supreme Court decided for Plessy’s case, it would have profound5 and widespread consequences.
[5]The argument used against Plessy became one of the most famous in American legal history. The state of Louisiana said that mandated segregation did not suggest that blacks were inferior to whites, because the whites-only train cars and the blacks-only train cars were of the same quality. They were equal. Looking at it that way, the segregated-train mandate did not violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection requirement. The train cars were “separate, but equal,” and therefore it was constitutional.
The Supreme Court sided with the state of Louisiana and convicted Plessy. There was only one judge who disagreed. Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote an explanation of his dissenting6 vote, explaining how white Americans saw themselves in a position of power, even if they were technically “equal” with others. He believed it was wrong to undermine the 14th Amendment in this way, when the majority of the country had favored the new law. The law, he argued, was “inconsistent with the personal liberty of citizens, white and black, in that state, and hostile to both the spirit and letter of the constitution of the United States.” He predicted that the Plessy decision would become one of the most infamous cases in Supreme Court history, and that it would set a precedent7 of segregation across the country.
LONG-TERM EFFECTS: JIM CROW
As it turns out, Justice Harlan was exactly right about the effects of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Laws that explicitly segregated the races could not be challenged in court anymore; the Supreme Court had given segregation the legal “okay,” and states took advantage of this to establish segregation for decades to come. Although segregation occurred in northern states, especially in public school systems, it was most prevalent in the South. Laws that segregated blacks and whites came to be known as a Jim Crow laws.
Jim Crow touched every part of life. And although the Supreme Court case recognized Louisiana’s segregated train cars as relatively equal in quality, this was not true for most segregated areas. Public schools for black children received less funding, less maintenance, and less teacher training. Things like colored bathrooms were poorly constructed and rarely cleaned. Despite this, states recognized them as “separate, but equal.”
The Jim Crow laws also led to the disenfranchisement8 of African American voters. States passed laws requiring literacy or history tests, background checks, proof of land ownership, or other complex processes just to register to vote. Some states even held whites-only primary races to exclude candidates who might be popular among black voters.
[10]The country may have been “equal” by the standards of Plessy v. Ferguson, but in reality, it was not equal at all.
OVERTURNED: BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION
It was not until 1954, almost 60 years later, that the Supreme Court overturned9 its own decision from Plessy v. Ferguson in a new case, Brown v. Board of Education. Homer Plessy's original plan to fight legalized segregation was finally accomplished
By 1896 the Civil War was over, and the amendments prohibiting1 slavery and ensuring equal rights for all citizens had been part of the U.S. Constitution for more than 25 years. But racial tensions across the country were incredibly high, and African Americans continued to experience oppression2 even though they were no longer slaves. 1896 was the year that the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. In this case, the court determined that racial segregation in public areas was acceptable and legal, as long as the segregated facilities were “equal.” This case cemented the racial tensions and segregation that were heightened during the decades after the Civil War, and it ensured that African Americans would face explicit3 and legal oppression for the next 60 years
THE CASE
The case began in 1892 when a man named Homer Plessy purchased a first-class train ticket for a whites-only car in Louisiana. Plessy was one-eighth black by heritage, but in the state of Louisiana he was legally considered black. Two years earlier, the state of Louisiana passed a law requiring racial segregation of train cars. To protest the law, a group of concerned black, Creole, and white Louisiana citizens, called the Committee of Citizens, convinced Plessy to intentionally buy a ticket for a whites-only car. They expected push-back and wanted to challenge the law in court. As they predicted, the train company knew Plessy was coming and had him arrested almost as soon as he stepped into the car.
Plessy’s case made its way through the Louisiana court system. His lawyers argued that the law mandating4 rail car segregation was unconstitutional because of the 14th Amendment, which ensured equal protection under the law for all citizens. Their opponent, the state of Louisiana, argued that the 14th Amendment only applied to nationwide laws, not state-specific laws. The courts all sided against Plessy, but he and his lawyers kept appealing until they made it to the Supreme Court.
SUPREME COURT: A FINAL VERDICT
Segregation was common across the country by the 1890s, not just in the South. Even Massachusetts segregated their public schools. It was clear that whatever the Supreme Court decided for Plessy’s case, it would have profound5 and widespread consequences.
[5]The argument used against Plessy became one of the most famous in American legal history. The state of Louisiana said that mandated segregation did not suggest that blacks were inferior to whites, because the whites-only train cars and the blacks-only train cars were of the same quality. They were equal. Looking at it that way, the segregated-train mandate did not violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection requirement. The train cars were “separate, but equal,” and therefore it was constitutional.
The Supreme Court sided with the state of Louisiana and convicted Plessy. There was only one judge who disagreed. Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote an explanation of his dissenting6 vote, explaining how white Americans saw themselves in a position of power, even if they were technically “equal” with others. He believed it was wrong to undermine the 14th Amendment in this way, when the majority of the country had favored the new law. The law, he argued, was “inconsistent with the personal liberty of citizens, white and black, in that state, and hostile to both the spirit and letter of the constitution of the United States.” He predicted that the Plessy decision would become one of the most infamous cases in Supreme Court history, and that it would set a precedent7 of segregation across the country.
LONG-TERM EFFECTS: JIM CROW
As it turns out, Justice Harlan was exactly right about the effects of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Laws that explicitly segregated the races could not be challenged in court anymore; the Supreme Court had given segregation the legal “okay,” and states took advantage of this to establish segregation for decades to come. Although segregation occurred in northern states, especially in public school systems, it was most prevalent in the South. Laws that segregated blacks and whites came to be known as a Jim Crow laws.
Jim Crow touched every part of life. And although the Supreme Court case recognized Louisiana’s segregated train cars as relatively equal in quality, this was not true for most segregated areas. Public schools for black children received less funding, less maintenance, and less teacher training. Things like colored bathrooms were poorly constructed and rarely cleaned. Despite this, states recognized them as “separate, but equal.”
The Jim Crow laws also led to the disenfranchisement8 of African American voters. States passed laws requiring literacy or history tests, background checks, proof of land ownership, or other complex processes just to register to vote. Some states even held whites-only primary races to exclude candidates who might be popular among black voters.
[10]The country may have been “equal” by the standards of Plessy v. Ferguson, but in reality, it was not equal at all.
OVERTURNED: BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION
It was not until 1954, almost 60 years later, that the Supreme Court overturned9 its own decision from Plessy v. Ferguson in a new case, Brown v. Board of Education. Homer Plessy's original plan to fight legalized segregation was finally accomplished
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