For nearly a century, the United States was occupied by the racial segregation of black and white people. The constitutionality of this “separation of humans into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life” had not been decided until a deliberate provocation to the law was made. The goal of this test was to have a mulatto, someone of mixed blood, defy the segregated train car law and raise a dispute on the fairness of being categorized as colored or not. This test went down in history as Plessy v. Ferguson, a planned challenge to the law during a period ruled by Jim Crow laws and the idea of “separate but equal” without equality for African Americans. This challenge forced the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of segregation, and in result of the case, caused the nation to have split opinions of support and
The period of rebuilding southern infrastructure and North and South relations following the American civil war all the way to the year 1877 known as reconstruction had many successes and failures. The political and social aspects of this era were pivotal in determining the success of Reconstruction.
The Plessy vs Ferguson court case originated in 1892. On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in a white car of a Louisiana train. Despite his white complexion, Plessy was considered to be “octoroon” which meant that he was 7/8 white and 1/8 black. Plessy intentionally sat on the white car and announced himself a black. Plessy challenged the separate car act which required that all railroads operating in the state provide “equal but separate accommodations” for White and African-American passengers and prohibited passengers from entering accommodations other than those to which they had been assigned on the basis of their race. Plessy sued the state of Louisiana because he felt that the rights given to him by the 13th and 14th amendments were being violated. In fact, all African-Americans’ rights were being violated in many southern states. Jim Crow laws prevented all African-Americans from attending schools with whites, serving as barbers for white women or girls, being in the same ward or room with a female nurse in a hospital and more discriminating laws that deprived African-Americans of their given rights. The lawsuit was planned by an unnamed black civil rights organization. Plessy would sit in the White compartment of the train and announce himself a black. Plessy would then be arrested which would
During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. After his assassination, Andrew Johnson went on to restore slavery. In 1868, the 13th and 14th amendments were established. The 13th amendment abolished slavery and the 14th amendment guaranteed blacks’ their rights. All this led to segregation. In 1937, Margaret Williams, a fourteen year old African American, was denied enrollment at Catonsville High School for two years. She had a suit filed on her behalf. The principal, David W. Zimmerman, said that it was not because of her race but because she failed uniform examinations. The case was dismissed and lost on repeal. She graduated from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. She traveled a couple hours each day just to attend school. After she graduated, she went on to attend a nursing school and she worked Glenn L. Martin Factory during World War II.
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.
Homer Plessy, angered because of segregation laws in the 1890’s, specifically opposed the Separate Car Act. This allowed for a “whites only” car in trains. As a civil rights activist, Homer believed that the rights granted to him by the 13th and 14th amendments were being violated. Although mostly white, Plessy fought for equality for everyone. The passing of new segregation laws in the South spurred Plessy into action. Plessy was an active reformer from 1892, when he publicly opposed segregation, to 1896, when the Plessy vs. Ferguson case finally ended after four years.
Plessy v. Ferguson was a supreme court case in 1896 and the decision entrenched legal segregation and it made “separate but equal” the law of the land. Brown v. Board of Education was also a supreme court case in 1954 and it ended legal segregation. Plessy was a black man (great grandmother was black) and Plessy violated Louisiana law by sitting in the white part of the train. Plessy sued based on the 14th Amendment and Equal Protection clause. Brown v. Board was a supreme court case that Brown sued the board of Education because the schools were unequal. However Brown v. Board of education showed that segregated schools were unequal and the decision of the supreme court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson case. Both cases were about segregation and
The 14th amendment was not in conflict because that deals with someone being deprived of life, liberty, or property and equal protection in laws. Plessy was not deprived of life, liberty or property because it was a state law that separation was necessary constitutional. Touching on the fact that Plessy is 7/8 Caucasian Mr. Justice Brown states, “It is up to the state, some holding that any visible admixture of black blood stamps the person as belonging to the colored race, others that it depends upon the preponderance of blood, and still others that the predominance of white blood must only be in the proportion of three fourths.” After this court decision it enabled the foundation for Jim Crow laws to be put in place and stay there till mid
After the Civil War, the federal government began a program known as reconstruction. Reconstruction refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. During and after this period, blacks made substantial gains in their political power and many were able to move from abject poverty to land ownership. Although African American were freed by the end of the Civil War, they were not directly given legal and political rights under President Andrew Johnson. Throughout the first years of reconstruction, blacks formed equal rights Leagues in the South to demand equality under the law, including the right to vote, and to fight oppressive black codes laws that restricted the lives of newly freed African Americans in numerous
The case was looked into as a racial matter of discrimination for Plessy being an African American. Plessy was arrested for violating an 1890 Louisiana statute that provided for segregated “separate but equal” railroad accommodations. African American man mistreated, it is true a broke a state law, but the situation could have been treated more maturely, and professionally. Police and citizens should not have discriminate Homer Plessy for being an African American. Rejecting Plessy’s argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the Court ruled that a state law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between whites and blacks did not conflict with the 13th and14th Amendments. (Plessy v Ferguson case - History.com) Race or color should not determine the way you treat someone, everyone should be treated equivalent. Plessy stood up for what's right for African American people.
Ever feel like something or someone is unfair to you? Well guess how African Americans felt almost 130 years ago. Whites thought that they were being “equal” to African Americans, but if you look at the past, you can clearly see many differences that made African Americans far from equality to whites, this was segregation. Segregation is wrong because white people seem to be favored over blacks, are also treated poorly from whites, and deserve more than what has been given to them.
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.
This case is most known for legally establishing the law in the United States the “separate but equal” doctrine, also known as segregation. The separate but equal doctrine has been engrained in the segregated South during the Jim Crow era. The infamous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson did not only physically separate whites and blacks, but public facilities, including school systems, buses, water fountains, lunch counters, restrooms, movie theaters, and courtrooms. Also, the United States Army could be segregated. Even though the decision was related to segregation of African American students, people of other races were being routinely segregated in many parts of the country. However, blacks were taught to see themselves as “not
Plessy v. Ferguson had upheld segregation of our society. This case was in Louisiana a southern state, which had enacted a Jim Crow law the Separate Car Act which made whites and blacks have to ride in separate trains. Mr. Plessy was a mixed race man who was mostly white and was arrested for sitting in the all white train and refusing to move. This happened in 1892 and Plessy was brought to Criminal Court in New Orleans, where Judge Ferguson had upheld the law. Plessy challenged this ruling and was brought to the supreme court of the United States. Plessy argued that this law was unconstitutional because this type of racial segregation was against the 14th and 13th amendment since it stigmatized blacks and made them inferior.
As Martin Luther King once said,“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”. Martin Luther King born January 15,1929 was an advocate speaker for freedom and jobs of African Americans. This resolute and genial man played a main role in the ending of segregation of African Americans. Washington’s Post, “Worsening, unchecked segregation in K - 12 public schools,” Washington’s Post, “American,” Dr. Martin Luther Kings Speech assert the forthright problems Martin Luther King could fix if he were alive today. Although many claim that there peace in America it is evident that America still encounters many problems that Martin Luther King can solve if he was here today.