They said each Railroad station had a right to make its own rules to protect their passengers and for the best results for the company. They also said that the 13th and 14th Amendments were not being violated by the rules the East Louisiana Railroad had at that
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, argued it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The petitioner of the case was Homer Plessy, and the respondent of the case was John H. Ferguson. The hearing began on April 13th, 1896, and came to a conclusion on May 18th, 1896. This case was one of the beginning cases for Separate but Equal, and is still remembered to this day. This case all started when Plessy, who was seven eighths white, sat down in the “white” train car and was asked to leave and sit in the “colored” train car.
"The question here is whether a Chinese citizen of the United Stаtes is denied equal protection of the lаws when he is clаssed аmong the colored rаces and furnished fаcilities for education equаl to thаt offered to аll, whether whitе, brown, yеllow, or black. Wеre this a nеw quеstion, it would call for very full argumеnt and considеration, but we think that it is the sаme quеstion which has bеen many timеs decidеd to be within the constitutional powеr of the stаte Legislature to sеttle, without intervеntion of the fedеral courts undеr the fedеral Constitution." The Court аligned this case under the lаnguage of Plessy v. Ferguson, which it sаid involved the "more difficult question" of segregаtion on railway carriers. In Plessy, the Court had listed many cases from state courts, upholding the prаctice of segregаting schools.
The Court declined his argument. The Court determined that the segregated schools were considerably equal enough under the Plessy doctrine. It wasn 't until the mid twentieth century when Brown v Board of Education came into play that Plessy’s argument was given the okay by the constitution. The Court tried to use Plessy v. Ferguson to deny the argument that Oliver Brown was giving during the Brown v. Board of Education case. Once the Courts decided that separating children by race could have an overall affect on the black children 's ability to learn.
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.
This was one of the biggest court cases involving the civil war. Plessy vs. Ferguson was a court case in 1890 (History). It involved Homer Plessy, a man of a mixed race, and Judge John H. Ferguson. It took place in Louisiana state court. It was because of the Car Act (LII / Legal Information Institute).
However, in 1896 Judge Ferguson of the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroads within state borders and created a “separate but equal” rule that lay the groundwork for future segregation. This shaped America’s future by aggravating the racial discrimination between blacks and whites. Specifically, laws were passed to keep blacks separate from whites in all sections of society, including education, restrooms, hotels, public transportation, and even cemeteries. Blacks were denied the right to vote and even had a curfew in some places. In summary, this court decision significantly worsened race relations and progress in society for many decades.
Ferguson was a court case that arose in Louisiana, and it created a drastically different atmosphere in 1896. This court case gave state laws that required black and white people to use separate facilities. The case came into light when Homer Plessy, an African-American, never moved to the “colored only” section on a train. Plessy was said to have had his Fourteenth Amendment violated because the separated facilities were discriminating; however the Court stated that the separate facilities were separate yet equal. Separate yet equal means that people have the same rights, but are separated by their race, religion, and wealth.
Ferguson was a case of the Supreme Court in 1892 after passenger Homer Plessy traveled on the Louisiana railroad and refused to sit in a car for blacks only. Homer Plessy was brought before Judge John H. Ferguson to a Criminal Court in New Orleans to be trailed for refusing to follow the state law of Louisiana “separate but equal.” Such conflict challenged the violation of the 13th and 14th amendment where they ensure equality for recently emancipated slaves. They stated, “Separate facilities for blacks and whites satisfied the Fourteenth Amendment so long as they were equal.” “In the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political equality, or a commingling of the two races unsatisfactory to either.”
On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in the Plessy vs. Ferguson law case that separate-but-equal facilities on trains were constitutional.” It is deplorable that such laws were created by Southern Republics to ensure that African Americans would maintain to be treated inferior to them. This includes making segregation a law. Blacks and whites could no longer dine together, sit on the bus together, get an education together,
However, blacks were not getting to sit where they wanted to. They were punished just because they were trying to be viewed as equals and trying to get the same opportunities as white men. In this case, Plessy was trying to fight for the rights of blacks and to make a stand, so that blacks would be able to be viewed as equal. They were continuously reminded of slavery because they were always put on a lower level than whites, even during the Reconstruction Era, which means they were still being divided and stashed into a lower class, which was exactly what was happening during slavery. Blacks were not allowed to pursue happiness when they were constantly tethered and reminded of slavery and that they were told that they were
The Gilded Age was a time in America from around the 1870’s to about 1900. It is regarded as this due to it’s known mediocrity from a political standpoint. Known for a major economic crisis, inequality between men and women, and the awful segregation put forth by the Jim Crow Laws. Referring to this stage in the life of America as the Gilded Age, it was more disappointing than anything else. It displayed how the country seemed perfect at the surface, but deep down, the country was an atrocity full of corruption.
“When it comes to racism, discrimination, corruption, public lies, dictatorships, and human rights, you have to take a stand as a reporter because I think our responsibility as journalist is to confront those who are abusing power” (Jorge Ramos). During the gilded age there was multiple cases where African Americans were looked down upon by caucasians. There were segregated schools, bathrooms, restaurants, and many other examples. A couple examples that will help show how the discrimination in the gilded era progressed into the progressive era and it set off a chain of events. The purpose of abolishing racial discrimination is so everyone gets treated the same.
Keeping African Americans segregated and not treating their condition’s equal led to a even more discrimination resulting in a lack of rights. In the 1896, Plessey vs Ferguson case, the Supreme Court stated that all facilities could be segregated, but they had to be equal. “Requiring railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in that state to provide equal, but separate accommodations for the white and [African Americans] races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train.” (Document F). This quote shows that the train compartments were required to be kept separate but equal.
