Eleanor Finch
Plessy v. Ferguson, a legal case decided in 1896, saw the U.S. Supreme Court advance the controversial separate but equal doctrine, which held that laws requiring racial segregation were constitutional, provided that the facilities provided to each race were equal. The case originated in 1892 when Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, purchased a train ticket in Louisiana and took a seat in a car reserved for white passengers. After refusing to move to a car for African Americans, he was arrested and charged with violating Louisiana's Separate Car Act. The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races. This ruling set a precedent for state-sponsored segregation and was only overturned decades later in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of the case | May 18, 1896 |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
| Case name | Plessy v. Ferguson |
| Decision | The "separate but equal" doctrine was constitutional |
| Majority opinion author | Justice Henry Billings Brown |
| Majority opinion rationale | The Fourteenth Amendment intended to establish absolute equality for the races, and separate treatment did not imply the inferiority of African Americans |
| Dissent author | Justice Harlan |
| Dissent rationale | "Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." |
| Subsequent developments | The "separate but equal" doctrine was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, marking the end of legalized racial segregation in U.S. schools |
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What You'll Learn
Homer Plessy's arrest
In 1892, Homer Adolph Plessy, a 30-year-old Creole man of color, was arrested for refusing to vacate his seat in the "whites-only" car of a Louisiana train. The train conductor had discovered that Plessy, who appeared to be white, was in fact classified as "colored" under the state's segregation laws. This incident became a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement and led to the landmark Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
On June 7, 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad and took a seat in the "whites-only" car. He had planned this action with the Citizens' Committee, a civil rights group formed to challenge the constitutionality of the Separate Car Act. Under this law, passed in 1890, railroad companies were required to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and colored passengers.
As the train pulled out of the station, a detective named Cain, who had been tipped off about Plessy's planned protest, boarded the car and asked Plessy his race. Plessy acknowledged that he was colored, but he refused to move to the "colored" car. He was immediately arrested and charged with a violation of the Separate Car Act.
Plessy was jailed and then released on $500 bail. He spent the next three years fighting his case through the courts. His lawyers argued that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guaranteed equal protection under the law and prohibited racial discrimination.
In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Plessy's case. By a vote of 7 to 1, the Court upheld the decision of the lower courts, finding that the Separate Car Act did not violate the Constitution. Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote the majority opinion, which included the now-infamous phrase, "separate but equal." This doctrine would go on to justify racial segregation in public facilities for the next half-century.
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Louisiana's Separate Car Act
The Separate Car Act, passed by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1890, mandated the segregation of Black and White passengers on trains within the state. The law required that all railroads operating in Louisiana provide "equal but separate accommodations" for white and African American passengers. This act was a product of the renegotiated definitions of 'equal rights' following the Reconstruction period and the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, which allowed the Democratic Party to regain power.
The act faced opposition from the beginning, with Republican legislator Henry Demas arguing that it catered to the "needs of the lower classes" and did not represent the interests of upper-class white citizens. In 1891, a group of young Black men from New Orleans, including Paul Trevigne, formed the Citizens' Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law. They hired Albion W. Tourgée, a prominent Radical Republican author and politician, as their lawyer. The committee's first case involved Daniel Desdunes, who boarded a "white" train car, but the case never went to trial as the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the act did not apply to interstate passengers.
For their second attempt, the committee found Homer Plessy, a mostly white "octoroon" who was still considered legally Black under Louisiana law. On June 7, 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class ticket and boarded a "white carriage" on the East Louisiana Railroad, where the conductor had been informed of his race. Plessy was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act. The case, Plessy v. Ferguson, was heard by Judge John H. Ferguson, who ruled that Louisiana could regulate such actions and found Plessy guilty. Plessy's lawyers appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, arguing that the law violated the 13th and 14th Amendments, but the conviction was upheld.
Finally, the case reached the Supreme Court of the United States, where Justice Henry Brown delivered the majority opinion in 1896, upholding the constitutionality of the Separate Car Act and setting a precedent for state-sponsored segregation. However, Justice John Marshall Harlan entered a lone dissent, arguing that the claimed "superiority" of the "white race" had no standing under the Constitution. The Plessy v. Ferguson decision established the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed segregation as long as ostensibly equal facilities were provided to each race. This doctrine was eventually overturned in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which ruled that segregation in public education was unconstitutional and catalyzed the expanding civil rights movement.
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The Supreme Court decision
The case of Plessy v. Ferguson originated in 1892 when Homer Plessy, a mulatto (7/8 white), challenged Louisiana's Separate Car Act by seating himself in a white-only compartment on a train. He was arrested and charged with violating the state law. The Citizens’ Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law engaged a lawyer, Albion W. Tourgée, to argue that the law requiring "separate but equal accommodations" was unconstitutional. The case made its way through the legal system, with lower courts finding the law to be constitutional.
The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson had far-reaching implications. It emboldened segregation states during the Jim Crow era, leading to the expansion of segregation laws throughout the country. The "separate but equal" doctrine resulted in state-sponsored segregation in various aspects of public life, including education, housing, medical care, employment, and transportation. This doctrine was used to assess the constitutionality of racial segregation laws, allowing for the segregation of whites and African Americans as long as the facilities provided were considered equal.
However, the "separate but equal" doctrine was not without opposition. In 1954, the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka explicitly rejected the doctrine as it applied to public education, marking a turning point in the civil rights movement. The Warren Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, started a liberal constitutional revolution that outlawed racial segregation and the "separate but equal" doctrine. This decision catalyzed the expanding civil rights movement during the 1950s and signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in schools, overruling the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson nearly 60 years earlier.
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The `separate but equal` doctrine
The "separate but equal" doctrine was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that allowed racial segregation as long as the facilities provided to each race were equal. This doctrine was derived from a Louisiana law of 1890, which used the phrase "equal but separate". The law required railroads operating in the state to provide \"equal but separate accommodations\" for white and African American passengers. It prohibited passengers from entering accommodations other than those assigned based on their race.
The "separate but equal" doctrine was confirmed in the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation. In this case, Homer Plessy (7/8 white and 1/8 black) purchased a train ticket to travel within Louisiana and took a seat in a car reserved for white passengers. After refusing to move to a car for African Americans, he was arrested and charged with violating Louisiana's Separate Car Act. The Supreme Court upheld the state law, with Justice Henry Brown of Michigan delivering the majority opinion. He argued that the law did not imply the inferiority of African Americans and that social prejudice could not be overcome by legislation.
The Plessy v. Ferguson decision strengthened racial segregation in public accommodations and services throughout the United States, ensuring its continuation for over half a century. It served as a precedent for segregation laws during the Jim Crow era and emboldened segregationist states. However, the decision also sparked efforts to challenge segregation, such as the formation of the Citizens' Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law by a group of young Black men in New Orleans.
The "separate but equal" doctrine was eventually overturned in a series of Supreme Court decisions under Chief Justice Earl Warren, starting with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. This case ruled that separating children in public schools based on race was unconstitutional, marking the end of legalized racial segregation in schools. The Warren Court initiated a liberal constitutional revolution that outlawed racial segregation and the "separate but equal" doctrine. The Brown v. Board of Education decision also served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the 1950s.
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The Civil Rights Movement
In the Plessy v. Ferguson case, Homer Plessy, a man of mixed racial heritage, was arrested and charged with violating Louisiana's Separate Car Act by sitting in a compartment designated for whites. Plessy challenged the law, arguing that it denied him his rights under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Despite this, the Supreme Court upheld the state law, stating that separate treatment did not imply the inferiority of African Americans. This decision gave constitutional sanction to racial segregation and set a precedent for future segregation laws.
However, the "separate but equal" doctrine was later challenged in a series of court cases, particularly in the field of education. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional, overturning the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson. This decision marked a significant victory for the civil rights movement and catalyzed further expansion of civil rights during the 1950s. The Warren Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, started a liberal constitutional revolution that outlawed racial segregation and the "separate but equal" doctrine.
The Brown v. Board of Education case was not without resistance, as some constitutional scholars disagreed with the Court's reliance on data from social scientists rather than legal precedent. Nonetheless, the decision sparked a long process of overturning segregation laws and practices that lasted through the 1950s, 1960s, and beyond. The companion case of Bolling v. Sharpe (1954) outlawed segregation in the District of Columbia, further advancing the cause of civil rights. These cases set important precedents for the expanding civil rights movement and helped to address racial inequality in the United States.
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Frequently asked questions
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races."
In 1891, a group of young Black men in New Orleans formed the "Citizens' Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law." On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy, who was 7/8 white, sat in a white-only train car and was arrested for violating the Separate Car Law.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision advanced the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed state-sponsored segregation as long as the facilities provided to each race were considered equal.
