Plessy V. Ferguson
Category: Other
Updated: 17 Feb 2020
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Created byAndy Chang
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Events
June 13, 1866
The 14th amendment was passed, which includes the Equal Protection Clause stating, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”, which basically gave African Americans Constitutional rights and equal protection under the law.February 1, 1875
Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed which made it illegal to deny any person of any public accommodations regardless of race or colorJanruary 1, 1883
Supreme Court decides that Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional because the 14th Amendment did not give Congress the power to prevent public discriminationJanuary 1, 1890
A law was passed in Louisiana which mandated the segregation of the railroad cars.June 7, 1892
Homer Plessy who came from a white descent (⅞ wite) boarded an Eastern Louisiana Railroad Train and sat in the whites-only section due to a test in order to challenge the Segregation Act. Due to being ⅛ black, he was mandated to go to the blacks-only section of the car. He refused and was later arrested and charged with violating state law.September 1, 1892
The Criminal District Court for the Parish of New Orleans held a case where the lawyer for Plessy argued that the law stating “separate but equal” was unconstitutional. The Judge, John H. Ferguson, ruled against them.January1, 1896
Plessy appeals to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court agreed with Ferguson and upheld his decision. One of the Justices, Henry Brown, stated that the 14th Amendment was designed to create equality between the races, not end segregation.
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