In 1896 the united states supreme court made a decision in the case of plessy v ferguson which made possible a legal system of racial segregation in the us which was not overturned until t. The committee of citizens challenged the constitutionality of the law on behalf of plessy, claiming it violated the equal protection law under the. Ferguson decision upheld the principle of racial segregation. This book focuses on the long struggle for individual identity and multicultural recognition amid the dehumanizing and depersonalizing forces of american negro slaveryand the. Medley states that jefferson davis surrendered at appomattox courthouse. Louisiana enacted the separate car act, which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. Ferguson established that the policy of separate but equal was legal and states could pass laws requiring segregation of the races.
The case was appealed again and again until it finally reached the u. Ferguson decision, segregation became even more ensconced through a battery of southern laws and social customs known as jim crow. Brown of michigan ended in a 71 decision of the court that backed up the louisiana law requiring segregation. This legislation made it a crime for an individual to deny the. Supreme court, with only one dissenting vote, ruled that segregation in america was constitutional. Ferguson 1896 complete audiobook of the united states supreme court opinion duration. Ferguson is louisianas law mandating racial segregation on its trains an unconstitutional infringement on both the privileges and immunities and the equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment. In 1892, homer plessy who was seveneighths caucasian agreed to participate in a test to challenge the act. Ferguson decision made legal a system of separate but equal racial segregation not overruled until 1954. He was solicited by the comite des citoyens committee of citizens, a group of new orleans residents who sought to repeal the act. Republican president, 18971901, who represented the conservative. John howard ferguson born june 10, 1838, was an american lawyer and judge from louisiana, most famous as the defendant in the plessy vs. Ferguson, who was the trial court judge, declared him guilty. In this informational text, jessica mcbirney discusses a landmark supreme court case known as plessy v.
Supreme court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the separate but. This is one of those landmark supreme court cases that you really need to know. Supreme court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the separate but equal doctrine. The court ruled in favor of separate areas for blacks and whites as long as they were equal, a decision which would prove to hold for almost 60 years until being overruled. If the accommodations are separate but equal, then the law is constitutional. Melville fuller, stephen field, horace gray, henry brown, george shiras, edward. The decision legitimized the many state laws reestablishing racial segregation that had been passed. It was a 7 to 1 decision in favor of ferguson and the louisiana law. By declaring that jim crow laws were constitutional, the nations highest court created an atmosphere of legalized discrimination that endured for nearly. The majority opinion was written by justice henry billings brown, and the minority opinion was written by justice john marshall harlan. Ferguson 1896 during the era of reconstruction, black americans political rights were affirmed by three constitutional amendments and numerous laws passed by congress. Ferguson was one of the most important court cases in black history.
Ferguson is an important court case because of the background of the case. It basically defined racial policy in the period between reconstruction and the civil rights movement. Ferguson, united states supreme court, 1896 plessy, a louisiana citizen of african american descent, was asked to move from the caucasian railway car. The court upheld an 1890 louisiana statute mandating racially segregated but equal railroad carriages, ruling that the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the u. Ferguson court case in 1892, a man named homer plessy was arrested for sitting in the whites only section on a train. Who was the lone dissenter on the supreme court and what did he argue. Ferguson 1896, the supreme court considered the constitutionality of a louisiana law passed in 1890 providing. The judge, john howard ferguson, disagreed, ruling that the state had the right to regulate railroads that operated within state boundaries. Supreme courts 1857 dred scott decision, which barred slaves and their descendants from citizenship, the high courts decision in plessy vs. Ferguson 1896 although the declaration of independence affirmed that all men are created equal, and had inalienable rights, including liberty, african americans were systematically denied their liberty through the institution of slavery. Once the court backed up the louisiana law, it was accepting to have a. Ferguson is an important court case because of the background of the case, the. The case challenged racial segregation in public areas in the late 19th century. The court ruled that the constitution doesnt guarantee plessy can sit where he wants.
Constitution dealt with political and not social equality. It was a legal case in which the supreme court decided that separate but equal facilities satisfied the guarantees of 14th amendment, thus giving legal sanction to jim crow segregation laws. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the us or from the uk, depending on stock availability. Ferguson, 1896 court action first case in 1892 plessy vs. The man arrested was an octoroon, which means he was seveneighths white and oneeighth african american. Ferguson, with biographies of three of the key players homer plessy, john ferguson, and albion tourgee, we as freemen has a huge number of shortcomings that are hard to ignore. Author keith weldon medley grew up in new orleans, not far from where homer plessy lived. Supreme court that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality a doctrine that came to be known as separate but equal. Ferguson 1896 upheld a louisiana law demanding segregated railway cars and established the doctrine of separate but equal in american constitutional law. We, as freemen, still believe that we were right and our cause is sacred. Ferguson was born the third and last child to baptist parents, john h. Homer plessy, a lightskinned black man who sometimes passed as white, took part in a plan by a small number of black professionals seeking to have a court overturn the louisiana separate car act of 1890.
Apparently, this was not an issue for the united states supreme court when it decided on the case of plessy vs. Ferguson was a court case that took place within the state of louisiana with regard to the investigation and analysis of racial discrimination suffered by african americans. Supreme court, on may 18, 1896, by a seventoone majority one justice did not participate, advanced the controversial separate but equal doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws. The 1896 united states supreme court decision in this case upheld the legality of state laws that required racial segregation in public facilities known as the separate but equal doctrine. On may 18, 1896, the supreme court ruled separatebutequal facilities constitutional on intrastate railroads. Ferguson, 1896 in the spring of 1896 homer plessy proceeded to sit in a white only section of a train car in louisiana. Ferguson an 1896 supreme court case that ruled racially segregated railroad cars and other public facilities, if they claimed to be separate but equal, were permissible according to the fourteenth amendment.
Ferguson 1896 the plessy v ferguson case started in 1892, when homer plessy was boarding a train which took place in new orleans, louisiana. Across the country, laws mandated separate accommodations on buses and trains, and in hotels, theaters, and schools. This case turns upon the constitutionality of an act of the general assembly of the state of louisiana, passed in 1890, providing for separate railway carriages for the white and colored races. Ferguson that a louisiana law requiring equal but separate accomodations for the white and colored races is constitutional. In june 1892, a thirtyyearold shoemaker named homer plessy bought a firstclass railway ticket from his native new orleans to covington, north of lake pontchartrain.
Ferguson, louisianas famous supreme court case, established the separatebutequal doctrine that preceded both rosa parks defiance of bus segregation in alabama and the legal arguments of brown v. It is a powerful story of organizing, fundraising, the use of the media, legal strategies, and more. After the slaves were declared free by the th amendment, life for the freedmen was made difficult by a series of laws designed to remind freedmen that. Despite his lightskin and creole ancestry, he was arrested and in time, his case rose to be heard by justice henry brown of the supreme court. On june 7, 1892, homer plessy agreed to be arrested for refusing to move from a seat reserved for whites.
Ferguson was the first major inquiry into the meaning of the fourteenth amendments 1868 equalprotection clause. Racial discrimination was attacked on a particularly broad front by the civil rights act of 1875. Justice john marshall harlan 18331911 dissented, charging that 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. Ferguson 1896 supreme court case about jim crow railroad cars in louisiana.
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