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Summary Of The Plessy Vs. Ferguson Case

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Plessy v. Ferguson Case The Plessy v. Ferguson case is often looked at as one of the most well-known cases to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. This case took place in 1896 and received much attention from both the black and white press, and was mainly accountable for the spread of segregation in the United States. In 1890, Louisiana passed a law that required blacks and whites to be separated on railroad cars. If there was only one passenger car in a train, the blacks and whites must be separated by a curtain or some other form of a barrier. This was called the Louisiana Separate Car Act. Not everyone was pleased with this new act. Many unhappy citizens in New Orleans created a group to try to abolish this law. Homer Plessy was a member …show more content…

Although he had one African-American grandparent, he did not consider himself black. Louisiana law defined him as an “octaroon”- one eighth African American. On June 7, 1892, he purchased a ticket on the East Louisiana Railway from New Orleans to Covington, and intentionally broke the law to establish a case. In result of Plessy’s decision to sit in the whites-only railway car, he was asked to move to the black railway car and he refused. Plessy was immediately arrested. He was held for trial and ordered to pay a twenty-five dollar fine. “He petitioned the Louisiana Supreme Court for a writ against Ferguson, the trial court judge, to stop the proceedings against him for criminal violation of the State law. But the Louisiana State Supreme Court refused.” (Pearson Education) Plessy, along with other members of the group, felt that this Louisiana law violated the Constitution of the United States, specifically the thirteenth amendment, prohibiting slavery, and …show more content…

The seven to one decision was in favor of the defendant, John H. Ferguson. The court did not agree with Tourgee’s argument about the thirteenth amendment. Also, the common opinion of the court was that the Louisiana law did not show that African-Americans were inferior. Justice Harlan, a former slave owner, disagreed with the common opinion of the court. He stated that the constitution is “color-blind and should not make such distinctions based on race, and that such distinctions did, indeed, imply the inferiority of one place to another.” (Kids.Net.Au) In January 1895, Homer Plessy pled guilty and paid the twenty-five dollar

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