Plessy V. Ferguson Case Analysis

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During the 19th century, the world was changing at a rapid speed. Just 24 years prior to the start of the new millennium, the US declared independence from Great Britain and the industrial revolution was at its height. There is a lot going on in this young nation, with internal plights forming as the leaders decide how to set up the government and the laws of the land. The 19th century was filled to the brim with importance, and immediately people were set on shaping the country they lived in. In that environment, there were a number of important and controversial issues that had to be resolved. What better way than bringing these matters to the Supreme Court, where these would impact the USA's future? After the abolishment of slavery in 1865, many of these court cases were …show more content…
Ferguson, which was set in 1896 and entailed racism solidifying Jim Crow laws. It all began with Homer Plessy, a man who was 18th percent black getting a ticket for a train, he sat in the white section and got arrested almost immediately because he was considered colored. He decided to bring his case to the Supreme Court. The civil war having ended, and the 13th amendment being passed in 1865 was what many believed would be the beginning of a new era of equality, but “many southern states passed laws imposing racial segregation. These laws, called "Jim Crow" laws, created two separate societies, one for whites and one for blacks.”. Now, the argument in this case was that the concept of ‘separate but equal’ was used to separate blacks and whites, sustaining the concept of black inferiority. The opposition held the argument that Louisiana had a right to “act with reference to the usage, custom, and traditions of their people, with a view to promoting their comfort and preserving the public peace in good order.” The judges accepted Louisiana’s position and deemed that “Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among

Plessy V. Ferguson Case Analysis

in the Plessy v Ferguson case was morally based on racial bias and discrimination due to the demonstration of unjust racial disparity in the criminal justice system. The ruling of the Plessy v Ferguson case led to civil war and gave legal standing to the idea of separate but equal. In the first opposition, the justices rejected Plessy’s argument that the Louisiana law conflicted with the Thirteenth Amendment because it was believed to be “ too clear for argument” (78 Plessy v. Ferguson) . According…

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(Fleischman 82). Major disputes between freedmen and employers were to be addressed only by the local courts (Fleischman, 106). Decades after the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, a case regarding racial segregation and inequality was finally heard in the Supreme Court. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Plessy—a man who was 1/8 black — argued that that the Separate Car Act that required him to sit in a sperate railway car was a violation of the 14th Amendment (under the Equal Protection Clause)…

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