The Plessy Vs. Ferguson Case

The “Plessy V. Ferguson” case is a very important case in U.S. history and U.S. civil rights, as it legalized segregation for decades. Homer Plessy appeared to a white man living a Louisiana, but he was ⅛ black, which was considered black in Louisiana. When Plessy tried to board a “whites only” railroad car in protest of Louisiana's “Separate Car Act” that legally separated train cars, he was arrested when he refused to move to colored car on the train. Once the case went through both district and state courts, it moved up to the U.S. Supreme Court where Plessy and his attorney argued that the law ostracized the colored people from the white, which would be unconstitutional. This was known as the “Plessy V. Ferguson” case. The court and Plessy disagree with their interpretations of the 13th and 14th amendment in this case.

Supreme Court that argued against Plessy in the “Plessy V. Ferguson” case explained that their interpretation of the 14th amendment was that all citizens should be legally equal, but not necessarily socially equal. The court said that, “The object of the amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but, in the nature of things, it could not have been intended… to enforce social equality.” In the “Plessy V. Ferguson” case, the court decided to segregate the train cars because it would make them separate but equal and have legal equality, but it doesn't have to have social equality. The 13th amendment explains that all slaves are free, and the court's decision on the railroad law makes it seem as if the court is trying to put more of a badge of servitude on the blacks by separating them from the blacks. The 13 amendment abolished slavery and said that all slaves are free and are made citizens. In this case, they all deserve equal