Plessy v. Ferguson Essays

  • Supreme Court Cases: The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

    667 Words  | 3 Pages

    stations. Homer Plessy was the first to stand up and voice his opinion.The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case challenged segregation laws. The Plessy v. Ferguson case started when Homer Plessy was arrested for disregarding a segregation law. Plessy was arrested because he “refused to sit in a Jim Crow car, breaking a Louisiana law” (Plessy v. Ferguson). This explains that Plessy was arrested for not following the segregation law that he knew about but denied to comply to.The

  • Comparison Of Plessy Vs. Ferguson And Brown V. Board Of Education

    1266 Words  | 6 Pages

    There were two cases, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (1955), that attempted to address the inequality among races. In this essay, I will be attempting to portray the shift in underlying legal principles that have switched from these two cases and suggest two theories, the weakening of legal rules and historical idealist account that could account for the change. Within four decades, the Supreme Court overturned their ruling of “separate but

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Trial

    692 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plessy V. Ferguson The Plessy V. Ferguson trial was a civil rights case in Louisiana in the 1890’s concerning an African American man who refused to sit in a Jim Crow car. The courts ruled that Louisiana's separate but equal doctrine was constitutional; Ferguson won. This case affected humanity in a negative way culturally and politically. The trial established standards of “the separate but equal laws”. The Plessy V. Ferguson trial was very politically contentious. There was claims that the law

  • The Case Of Plessy V. Ferguson

    1059 Words  | 5 Pages

    has been debated for hundreds of years. In 1892 the landmark case of Plessy v Ferguson made the Supreme Court. A major precedent was set in this case that would be used for many years to come. This precedent would continue to be abided by for around six decades. However before all of that happened in 1890 a monumental statue was passed by the state of Louisiana. Even though the case of Plessy v Ferguson did not reach the Supreme Court until the year 1892, the real issue

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Case

    1365 Words  | 6 Pages

    history, many court cases were fought for equal rights. Blacks and whites could not go to the same schools. The landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1896, upheld public segregation based on the color of one’s skin, is known as Plessy v. Ferguson ​ . The decision by the justices on the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of separate but equal facilities based on race ​ .​ The practice of segregation based on race stayed in effect for over sixty years until it was overturned in

  • Essay On Plessy V Ferguson

    416 Words  | 2 Pages

    on the court cases of Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, we must first understand each court case on its own. Plessy v. Ferguson resulted in the year 1896. The case involved the 1890s Louisiana law that basically stated that there were separate railway carriages that were specifically labeled for blacks only and whites only. Plessy v. Ferguson involved Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth black and appeared to look like a white man. Plessy took an open seat in

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Summary

    1067 Words  | 5 Pages

    Analysis: Plessy v. Ferguson Citation: Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) Argued: April 18, 1896 Date Decided: May 18, 1896 Vote: 7-1: This decision was in favor of Ferguson. The court ruled that segregation alone does not necessarily establish discrimination that goes against the law. Equal, however separate adjustments for blacks and whites as expressed by the state of Louisiana, does not go against the equal protection clause as founded in the Fourteenth Amendment (Plessy v. Ferguson 1896)

  • Examples Of Plessy V Ferguson

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    Throughout the history of the United States of America, a struggle to reach racial equality has been evident. The case Plessy v Ferguson made separation by race, in other word segregation, legal. But, in order for this separation to occur, an equal position or place must be present, creating the phrase “separate but equal.” Even though equal accommodations must have been present for segregation to be legal, inferiority was still strongly implied due to the separation. Due to this court case, it caused

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Case Summary

    891 Words  | 4 Pages

    Case Brief - Plessy v. Ferguson Homer A. Plessy v. John H. Ferguson was a US Supreme Court case between Homer Plessy, the plaintiff, and John Ferguson, the defendant. The year this case took was place was 18961. This case almost entirely deals with the Louisiana Law passed six years prior that provided “equal but separate” railway carriages for white and colored races. The constitutionality of this law was brought into this case as Homer Plessy, who refused to sit in the colored only rail car,

  • Summary Of The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

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    Homer Plessy arrested June 7, 1892 for refusing to move seats on a passenger train in Louisiana. The case was originally in the State of Louisiana. Plessy argument was against Louisiana 1890 Separate Car Act that it violated his 14th Amendment. Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark Supreme Court case that marked Separate but Equal constitutional. Louisiana Separate Car Act section 1 stated all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this State, shall provide equal but separate accommodations

  • Why Is Plessy V. Ferguson Important

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1896), a case regarding constitutional law of the US Supreme Court, that was upheld on a seven to one vote. Homer Plessy (1862-1925), an African American passenger on a train, sat in the whites-only train and declined when told to sit in the Jim Crow car, this action broke Louisiana law, The Separate Car Act. Judge John H. Ferguson (1838-1915) of the Criminal Court of New Orleans, the defendant, upheld the law, which was being challenged by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Case Analysis

    261 Words  | 2 Pages

    On June 7th, 1892, Homer Plessy boarded a Louisiana train with a first class ticket. Plessy was one-eighth black, and was therefore an easily white-passing man. When he seated himself in the whites-only carriage of the train, he was soon forcibly removed and placed under arrest. The reason for his imprisonment was for ‘violating an act of the General Assembly of the State,’ as specified in the Supreme Court’s transcript of the Plessy v. Ferguson case. At the time, a law was in place in the state

  • Why Is Plessy V. Ferguson Important

    552 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plessy v. Ferguson The Supreme Court of Plessy v. Ferguson, argued on April 13, 1896, involved a man identified as Homer Adolph Plessy. Plessy was a man of seven - eighths Caucasian and one - eighths of African descent in the State of Louisiana who was denied to sit in a passenger train car reserved for “whites only.” The case questioned the Supreme Court whether Louisiana’s law mandating racial segregation infringes the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. On June 7, 1892,

  • Summary Of The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

    2624 Words  | 11 Pages

    historical case of racial discrimination was Brown v. Board of Topeka. In the Plessy v. Ferguson case the U.S. court avoided the issue of the protection that citizens were guaranteed under the 14th Amendment. Instead, they just stepped around the issue by saying that it was reasonable for the states to have such laws. Plessy Ferguson case ruled that facilities that were separate and equal were not unconstitutional, but equal. However, the Plessy v. Ferguson case helped African Americans to step in the

  • Why Is Plessy V. Ferguson Important

    1146 Words  | 5 Pages

    Identify and give the significance of Plessy v. Ferguson In 1892, even though slavery has ended but there are still racial discrimination in the society. Homer Plessy sat in the railroad car that for only for “white”. Even though he is not fully black but he has some ancestors from France and Spain, he was consider Creole and has to sit in the area for “colored”. He did not move when he was told too. Therefore, this was taken to court when the Judge John Howard Ferguson ruled him guilty of sitting at the

  • Plessy V. Ferguson Case Study

    470 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plessy v. Ferguson This case dates back in to 1982 when Homer Please was arrested for sitting in a “white” car of a train (Wormser, n.d.). Obviously this goes back where discrimination against black was going on. Plessy was said to pass as white due to his light skin; however, due to Louisiana law he was required to sit in the “colored” car. He was a “Creole of Color” which is used to refer to a black person in New Orleans whose ancestor were traced to the French, Spanish, and Caribbean (Wormser

  • Thurgood Marshall And Plessy V. Ferguson

    300 Words  | 2 Pages

    but was denied because of him being black. However years later when he applied to Howard University when he graduated, he opens up a small law practice in Baltimore. Marshall won the first Major case in civil rights was due to the precedent of Plessy v Ferguson where it states racial segregation laws for public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal", where he sued University of Maryland Law School to admit a young African American named Donald Gaines Murray. With his well-known skills

  • Research Paper On Plessy V Ferguson Trial

    1638 Words  | 7 Pages

    Plessy Against The Court Think of a time when people were separated by the way they looked and the way they were born. During the twentieth century, many African Americans were discriminated because of their race and were separated from others in many ways. Others would determine where they belonged in society by the color of their skin. At this time, state legislatures promoted an act called the “Separate Car-Act” supporting that the 13th and 14th Amendment do not count against transportation

  • African-American Plessy V. Ferguson Case

    781 Words  | 4 Pages

    Plessy v. Ferguson was a very important topic in 1892. When an African-American man named Homer Plessy, who looked white decided to ride in a “whites-only” railroad car. Plessy told a white man who worked on the train that he was 1/8 African-American and was arrested for not moving to the “blacks-only” car. The reason he went on the “whites-only” car was to protest against Louisiana’s “Separate Car Act,” which meant blacks and whites had to be in different cars on a train so they could be seperate

  • Plessy Vs. Ferguson: Bakke V. California

    882 Words  | 4 Pages

    commonly known as, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Education, and Bakke v. California. The court case Plessy v. Ferguson played a big part in what is commonly known as the civil rights movement. It had created many laws that enforced a process called segregation. Segregation was the act of separation because of a difference in the people, and in this case, white and black. The Plessy v. Ferguson case was one of the main events that started the