Plessy V. Ferguson

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 color

Janruary 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 discrimination

January 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.