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Plessy Vs. Ferguson Case In The 19th Century

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The Gilded age was a period of time, from 1865-1901 after the Civil War, when the economy switched from agricultural to industrial. During this age two famous American cases each set premises for the future. Plessy vs. Ferguson was a case in 19th century America that challenged the 13th and 14th Amendments. Louisana just passed the Separate Car Act of 1890 which stated that trains had to provide separate but equal accommodations for passengers. Homer Plessy who was 1/8th black bought a ticket for the white only section on the train to challenge this act. After Homer was arrested and went to trial, the Judge Ferguson and the supreme court judge ruled that the “separate but equal” policy did not violate the 14th amendment as long as the accommodations were legally and politically equal, they did not have to be socially …show more content…

Myra Bradwell wanted to become a lawyer in Illinois and had all the requirements yet when she applied, the state court declined her application because she was a women. Then the supreme court ruled that Illinois did not violate the 14th Amendment because the right to be a lawyer is not one of the privileges protected by this Amendment. These cases represent something further than just the court decisions they embody the general Americans opinion towards equality. Obviously they wanted segregation at the time because they jumped on the opportunity to do so. But for women, they prevented one from being able to work in “male” profession but continued to fight for their rights and eventually reach equilibrium. The famous Plessy vs. Ferguson case is a symbol of American intolerance and oppression because the “separate but equal” principle created a benchmark for racial segregation but American democracy and progress is illustrated in women’s desire for equal opportunity when Bradwell applied to be a lawyer in the case Bradwell vs

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Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (U.S. 1896) gave states the legal right to require persons of different races to use separate but equal segregated facilities. But that ruling was struck down in the landmark case of Brown v. Bd. of Educ. , 347 U.S. 483 (U.S. 1954), In that case the court held that separate but equal public schools based on race is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is unconstitutional. In upholding that decision, Cooper v. Aaron held that state governments must comply with Supreme Court rulings and court orders based on the its interpretation of the

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In 1890 “Louisiana enacted a law that required separate railway cars for blacks and whites.” (Oyez). Blacks didn’t agree with this as they believed it went against the reconstruction amendments. For example as stated in the 15th amendment “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state.” (United States, Congress, House).

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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 separation. A man named Homer Plessy tested how far it takes to change the way the South is controlled.

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Plessy vs. Ferguson, one of the bigger cases in the turning point for rights, gave the black community a big boost forward. There was a man named Homer Adoph Plessy that had a problem with the way things were going at the time and he wanted equal rights. But there was another man named John Ferguson who thought that everything was just skippy. They went to court to settle their quarrel.

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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.

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The Plessy v. Ferguson case started because of the Louisiana Separate Car Act. This act required African Americans and whites to sit in segregated compartments in carriers in the state of Louisiana. (Sound smart: Plessy vs. Ferguson, Yohuru Williams) In 1890 this case adopted a law providing “equal but separate accommodations for the white and

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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

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The topic of equality among all Americans 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.

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Washington, Du Bois, and Reform During the Gilded Age of the United States, the nation was adapting to the many changes of industrialization, immigration, and reform. The age saw attempts to reconstruct from the Civil War and allow African Americans to adapt and join society. Unfortunately, many southern states were able to create loopholes and regulations such as Jim Crow Laws and literacy tests to marginalize the influence of African American citizens. As a result, African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Web Du Bois rose up and tried to fight the oppressive feelings and laws of the age.

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In 1896, the United States Supreme Court decided in favor of maintaining segregation in the now infamous case, Plessy v Ferguson. While claiming to set the standard “separate but equal,” the Plessy v Ferguson decision set back racial equality for almost 60 years, calling into question whether the United States Supreme Court had been granted too much power. It was on May 18th in 1896 when this historical decision changed the lives of many. The Plessy v Ferguson decision codified the practice of racial segregation. The ruling of the case provided justification for segregation of public and private institutions.

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The Book Equal Justice Under Law by Constance Baker Motley, shows that not only is there inherent racism and injustice within America, but it shows that the country itself was founded on the premise that blacks are not equal to whites. Much progress was made through the civil rights movement, and Equal Justice Under Law covers some of the cases that made a big impact on society and the civil rights movement, as well as some of the struggles an African American had to face in everyday life, such as Jim Crow laws, unequal educational opportunities, and racism. Constance Motley had a very influential role in the civil rights movement. There were many circumstances in which the ruling of one of her cases directly correlated with the civil rights

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Supreme Court Decisions Setting Precedent Discrimination may not seen as big a problem today, but people had to fight for that problem, and court cases set precedents for today. The case of Plessy versus Ferguson and Brown versus Board of Education helped change the way we view discrimination today. The case of Plessy versus Ferguson decided that segregation was legal as long as everything was equal. But on the other hand, Brown versus Board of Education included separate but equal schools made African-American children feel inferior to the white children. 1896, Supreme Court heard the Plessy versus Ferguson case.

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In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law” (Newton, 2006, p. 294). Consequently, Plessy v. Ferguson’s separate but equal doctrine stood firm

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Plessy v. Ferguson, argued in 1896, stated that Homer Plessy violated the “Separate Car Act” when he sat in a “white” railway car. According to the government, this law still satisfied the pre-existing doctrine, “Separate But Equal” (Jim Crow Stories). The term “Separate but Equal” justified having separate facilities for different races, as long as both races had the same amount of amenities. According to the government, this did not contradict the 14th Amendment as both races were receiving “equal” access to what claimed to be “equal” services, though white facilities were often better kept than black ones. Plessy was arrested for refusing to get up from a seat reserved for white people, and over time, the controversial case made it to the Supreme Court (American History).

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This case was not just an event in history, but a strong point that supported and still supports equality to this day. People can use this case to help support their reasoning for what they believe in and why certain actions should

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