ipl-logo

Plessy Vs Ferguson Court Case Analysis

605 Words3 Pages

Over the course of American history, various court cases have significantly impacted the countries future. Two court cases that greatly shaped the future of America are the Scopes trial, by determining boundaries between evolution and the bible, and the Plessy versus Ferguson trial, by affecting racial discrimination towards blacks. The Scopes trial shaped the future of America by examining what public schools have a right to teach, and specifically debating the boundaries between education and religion. After World War I, a religious belief in the priority of the Bible over all human knowledge became popular in society, while Darwin’s theory of evolution was seen as a threat. This resulted in the passage of Tennessee’s Butler Act which stated …show more content…

This case, which concerned racial segregation laws for public facilities such as restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains, made its way all the way to the Supreme Court. As way of background, in 1890 Louisiana passed a law which required blacks and whites to ride in separate train cars. However, in 1892, Homer A. Plessy, who was a black man, boarded a car designated for whites only. He was asked to leave, but refused and was arrested immediately. In the case, Plessy vs Ferguson, Plessy’s position was that his rights were violated under the 13th and 14th amendments of the Constitution, which dictated equal treatment under the law. 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. In conclusion, the disputes between religion and science, and the concept of racial discrimination against blacks were two important factors that shaped the future of America. These were affected by decisions in the famous court cases of the Scopes Trial and Plessy versus Fergueson. In the future, it is expected that there will be many more court trials, which will significantly impact the lives of many Americans in the years to

Show More
Related
441 Words | 2 Pages

There are many reasons why John Thomas Scopes’ Monkey Trial was important to Tennessee history. This was a major case for the state of Tennessee and I believe that it is very important to our history. The trial was just after World War 1 the year 1925 was very brutal for America and the Scopes Trial made it no better. We were recovering from World War 1 when Scopes was arrested and prosecuted for something he did in his own classroom. He didn’t think that he should have to run his classroom like the government wanted him to.

Read More
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 of Louisiana dictating that people of color and whites must sit in separate train carriages.

Read More
1638 Words | 7 Pages

Ferguson” trial played a huge role in changing American History. The trial showed how corrupt the state laws were but also showed how corrupt the court was run as well. After the trial ended, it was able to give hope to many different americans to be able to change the way we treat one another as a whole instead of the way we look. It affected the way laws were formed and how the court was able to prosecute someone not based on the color of their skin. Even though the trial was not on a huge global scale of an issue, it was truly the push that set off a wild fire for change in the near future of America.

Read More
914 Words | 4 Pages

L. Mencken's article "The Scopes Trial: Aftermath," he states how, while it may be the right of every person to hold the beliefs/religion/superstitions they may choose for themselves, they have NO right to force their own viewpoints and beliefs onto others, as that infringes upon their right to have different beliefs (Mencken). This pointed out to the American public the unconstitutional actions of the fundamentalist South, and many realized it was time for, at least a small, change. The effect the Scopes Trial had on education in America is clear. Before the trial, it was the commonly held belief that evolution should not be taught in the public school system because of its undermining of the religious concept of creation. This famous court case was really the first time anyone had publicly second-guessed their deeply held fundamental beliefs (such as the prosecuting attorney, William Jennings Bryan).

Read More
693 Words | 3 Pages

During the early 1950s throughout the late 1960s the Warren Court era extensively influenced the perspective of American society and its constitutional laws. During this period the Warren Court also sought out to revolutionize perspectives on discrimination based on race and economic class, limitations of citizens within the United States, and expansion of rights due to criminal injustice. The approach of the Warren Court on these subjects stated above benefited the american society due to the outcomes of the Warren Court rulings in this era. Warren Court had an immense impact on US society for instance Brown V. Board of Education which the concluding ruling ended segregation in schools between minority groups and caucasians. This ruling had a tremendous affect on society as the minority groups in the United States felt as if they were on the brink of equality and closer to desegregation.

Read More
448 Words | 2 Pages

One of the most important court cases sustained the constitutionality of Louisiana's Jim Crow law. The justice for the Plessy v. Ferguson case said that if both races had equal rights, that one could not be inferior to another, but if one was inferior, they couldn't be put upon the same social plane. Legislation made it a crime to deny anyone equal fulfillment and enjoyment of any accommodations or public amusement because of race. The final ruling justified the Louisiana state law by allowing "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races"(Plessy v. Ferguson).

Read More
305 Words | 2 Pages

The Plessy versus Ferguson case from two different views on equal rights, Plessy thought that treating people equal meant treating them the same. However the courts said that they are giving people the same treatment, but that does not mean it has to be in the same place. The courts said that the states have the power to decide if they are going to separate the colored from the whites. Plessy still believed that treating people equally meant treating them the same. He argued that the railroads were not treating people equally, because he was not allowed to sit with the whites.

Read More
451 Words | 2 Pages

“What can more certainly arouse race hate, what more certainly create and perpetuate a feeling of distrust between these races, than state enactments which, in fact, proceed on the ground that colored citizens are so inferior and degraded that they cannot be allowed to sit in public coaches occupied by white citizens?”- John Marshall Harlan. On May 18, 1896, the Supreme court passed the separate but equal act on a vote of 7-1. This allowed separate facilities to be made for whites and blacks. This was the result of the Plessy vs Ferguson case, where a man was forced out of a whites-only car because he had African descent. The Supreme court couldn’t find any differences in the train cars, yet separate facilities for blacks had a decrease in quality.

Read More
1219 Words | 5 Pages

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 the struggle to reach racial equality much more difficult due to the legalization of segregation.

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

The Supreme Court’s decision amalgamated with the Reconstruction-era differentiation between civil rights and social rights in the preceding court case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. Conforming to Justice Henry Brown, the Fourteenth Amendment endorsed “absolute equality of the two races before the law, but, 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.” Congress could require the separation of the races as Brown communicated the reasoning of the laws not implying the inferiority towards either race. Plessy’s lawyer, Albion Tourgee, exhorted that the segregation regulations implied the white supremacy’s view of African American was seen as inferior.

Read More
1037 Words | 5 Pages

The Scopes Trial of 1925 put the Butler Act, passed in 1925 by the State of Tennessee, on the national stage. The Rhea County Courthouse was the center of the trial, situated in Dayton, Tennessee, a small town that wanted to get its name on the map. At the time of the trial, the nation was ending its time with the Progressive Era and beginning a new age called the “Roaring ‘20s”. Nationwide, circumstances and conditions had changed for the better. Calvin Coolidge, a Republican nicknamed “Silent Cal”,was the president at the time of the Scopes Trial.

Read More
76 Words | 1 Pages

The U.S. Supreme Court is affirmed by ruling in favor of Ferguson ruling that mandatory racial segregation was not in violation of the 14th Amendment. During the court appeal the term “separate, but equal was never used; therefore, the court’s ruling was able to established that principle as a means of justifying segregation. The stamp of approval was placed on the doctrine of “separate but equal” because Homer Plessy’s 13th and 14th Amendment arguments were rejected.

Read More
1277 Words | 6 Pages

Dating back decades ago, racial disputes between different racial groups were very apparent in society in 20th century America. Numerous people of different backgrounds and cultures came to America for the American Dream, hoping to have a clean start and make a notable life. The case Plessy v. Ferguson challenged government officials to pursue a change in segregation and its immorality. The case debated the toleration of segregation in public facilities and provoked an uprising against the false ideology of “separate but equal”. The hearing of Brown v. Board of Education legalized the end of racial segregation in educational provisions.

Read More
393 Words | 2 Pages

Particularly in the South, they continued to seek opportunities to legal slavery. As a result, Southerners pass a state law, Black Codes, during reconstruction. This law restricted the civil rights and public activities of legally freed African Americans. Owning weapons, freedom of movement, and land ownerships were against Black Codes. Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), the court case that upheld authority of the state law claiming, “separate-but-equal facilities for whites and blacks” , led up to another significant factor, segregation, which arose to be controversy in mid-1900s.

Read More
790 Words | 4 Pages

However, it should not be forgotten that allowing the Supreme Court to assume significant involvement in shaping Civil Rights policy might lead to certain decisions that are adverse to the goals of equal treatment and non-discrimination. By looking back at past cases dealing with Civil Rights controversies, one can observe examples of decisions reached by the Court that had both positive and negative effects on the rights of suspect classes. In Plessey v. Ferguson (1896), the Court considered a Louisiana law that authorized separate railway cars for blacks and whites. Plessey argued that this statute violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by subjecting him to unequal treatment under the law.

Read More

More about Plessy Vs Ferguson Court Case Analysis

Open Document