Plessy V. Ferguson Case Study

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The Plessy v. Ferguson case challenged the 14th amendment which granted citizenship to all newly freed slaves. It was ruled that all aspects of the 14th amendment didn’t apply to everyone. The purpose of this amendment was to create equality between races, however this didn’t happen. This case was brought along when an African-American, Homer Plessy, refused sitting in a Jim Crow Car, which was the first official law that commanded segregation on the trains. Plessy v. Ferguson case allowed segregation to become a law, and Jim Crow laws spreaded across the United States. This meant that any public area could legally be separated. In my opinion, I disagree with this case because the amendment that was set in place didn’t apply to all. This case also affected the lives of many and the court ruling was unfair. …show more content…
First, what exactly does it mean to be a citizen or have citizenship? Citizenship can be defined as, “the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized.” African Americans didn’t receive the same rights and privileges as Whites. African Americans could not even be on the same part of the train with Whites. Therefore the amendmendment wasn’t held up to it’s standards. If African-Americans had a rough time dealing with slavery, I think it’s only fair to get the same equal treatment. The 14th amendment also states that, “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” In this case there was a restriction on where Plessy could be seated. As a citizen of the United States everyone has a privilege as to where they want to sit, and his privilege is being

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The case of Plessy v. Ferguson is an African-American man buying a first class train ticket in Louisiana and being told to go to the black section of the train. However, the man, Homer Plessy refused to go to the black section and was forcefully arrested for going against the Separate Car Act of 1890. The Separate Car Act allowed for African-Americans to be segregated on trains and the punishment for wrongdoing was a $25 dollar fine and up to twenty days in jail. Homer Plessy went against the act…

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