Plessy v. Ferguson   Term Paper ID:38092 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: This paper discuses the Plessy v Ferguson case in which a white black man ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: This paper discuses the Plessy v. Ferguson case in which a 7/8 white, 1/8 black man was jailed for sitting in the white car on the Louisiana railroad. He took his case all the way to the Supreme Court, but lost. It also discusses the effect this case had on subsequent cases and the civil rights movement. Paper Introduction: In June Homer Plessy a year old colored shoemaker wasjailed for sitting in the White car on the East Louisiana Railroad Plessy Although Plessy was seven-eighths white and only one-eighthblack he was considered black under Louisiana Law and required to sit inthe Colored car Plessy took his case to court and argued in HomerAdolph Plessy v The State of Louisiana that the Separate Car Act violatedthe Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution Judge JohnHoward Ferguson a lawyer from Massachusetts who had Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. v. 2 6. The Plessy decision set the precedent that "separate" facilities forblacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were equal, which wasquickly extended to cover many areas of public life, including restaurants,theaters, restrooms, and public schools (Plessy). 1 Oct. In the 193 s, the NAACP, under the leadership of Charles HamiltonHouston, an African-American attorney, began to attack the "separate butequal" doctrine (Separate). Board of Education of Topeka et al." 2 6. Houston concentrated his efforts on where hethought the separation of the races could be most easily demonstrated. The object of the [Fourteenth Amendment] was undoubtedly to enforce the 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, or a comingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either." The lone dissenter from the decision, Justice Harlan, wrote that, "Our Constitution is color blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens...In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case" (Plessy). Plessy appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, which upheld judgeFerguson's decision (Plessy). Although Plessy was seven-eighths white and only one-eighthblack, he was considered black under Louisiana Law and required to sit inthe "Colored" car. The decision desegregated schools for thefirst time, by law, and was a major step forward in the Civil Rightsmovement. 2 6. The Topeka Board ofEducation had established separate segregated elementary schools but otherpublic schools in the community were operated on a non-segregated basis.The three-judge District Court found that segregation in public educationhas a detrimental effect on colored children, but denied relief on thegrounds that the colored and white schools were substantially equal interms of buildings, transportation, curricula, and educations of teachers. People still considered colored peopleinferior, regardless of the amount of white blood they had. "Plessy v. In June, 1892, Homer Plessy, a 3 -year old colored shoemaker, wasjailed for sitting in the "White" car on the East Louisiana Railroad(Plessy). Fergusonto the contrary was rejected. The Supreme Court of the United States heardthe Plessy case in 1896 in Plessy v. This "separate but equal" policy remained on the books for another 64years before the Brown v. "Separate But Equal?" 2 6. In restaurants,theaters and busses, blacks would have to sit at the back, and they hadcompletely separate restrooms, which were not as clean or as nice as whiterestrooms.White waitresses would often wait on black customers last, or serve themcold food. "Plessy v. 2 6. Ferguson: Civil Rights Leaders; Changing the Laws; The Fight for Desegregation; Timeline." 2 6. 1 Oct. 1 Oct. Ferguson and again found him guilty.There was a seven-person majority for the guilty decision, and JusticeHenry Brown wrote, "That [the Separate Car Act] does not conflict with the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery...implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races...a distinction which is founded in the color of the two races...has no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races... Board of Education case, colored children of elementaryschool age, living in Topeka, brought action in the District Court ofKansas to enforce the Kansas statute which allows, but does not require,cities with a population of more than 15, to maintain separate schoolfacilities for colored and white students (Brown). Hefought Missouri on their refusal to provide legal education for blacks:they sent their qualified black law students to neighboring states, andpaid their tuition. The Supreme Court found that, in the field of public education,"separate but equal" had no place (Brown). The Plessy decisiontells us much about America at the time. Works Cited"Brown et al. 1 Oct. He also fought to make sure that separate educationalprograms were truly equal. The State of Louisiana that the Separate Car Act violatedthe Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Hetherefore found Plessy guilty of refusing to leave the White car. They stated that suchinstitutions are inherently unequal and that "the plaintiffs and others ina similar situation are, by reason of the segregation complained of,deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the FourteenthAmendment." The also stated that any language found in Plessy v. Board of Education case in 1954 (Plessy/Civil).In the Brown v. Judge JohnHoward Ferguson, a lawyer from Massachusetts, who had previously declaredthe Separate Car Act "unconstitutional on trains that traveled throughseveral states" decided in Plessy's case that the state could choose toregulate railroad companies which operated only within Louisiana. The impact of the Supreme Court decision in the Plessy casereinforced the public belief that it was right, according to theConstitution, for blacks and whites to have separate facilities and spacesin public places as long as the facilities were equal (Plessy/Civil).However, the "equal" part did not work out in reality. Plessy took his case to court and argued in HomerAdolph Plessy v. Though the slaves had been freed,people still did not consider colored people as equals, or even as peopleentitled to the same civil rights as whites. They wanted a strictseparation of black and white, did not want to sit next to them on publictransportation, did not want to sit next to them in restaurants ortheaters, or any public place. Ferguson." (1999). Opposition to Brown was intense, particularly in southernstates, with governors standing in schoolhouse doors, and the angryconfrontation in Little Rock, but a corner had been turned, and the CivilRights movement picked up momentum. 2 6. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.