Ferguson decision upheld the principle of racial segregation. 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. Once the court backed up the louisiana law, it was accepting to have a. Ferguson court case in 1892, a man named homer plessy was arrested for sitting in the whites only section on a train. The majority opinion was written by justice henry billings brown, and the minority opinion was written by justice john marshall harlan. Louisiana enacted the separate car act, which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites.
Supreme court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the separate but equal doctrine. 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 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. Supreme court, with only one dissenting vote, ruled that segregation in america was constitutional.
Brown of michigan ended in a 71 decision of the court that backed up the louisiana law requiring segregation. The man arrested was an octoroon, which means he was seveneighths white and oneeighth african american. Ferguson was born the third and last child to baptist parents, john h. This book focuses on the long struggle for individual identity and multicultural recognition amid the dehumanizing and depersonalizing forces of american negro slaveryand the. 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. Melville fuller, stephen field, horace gray, henry brown, george shiras, edward. 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. It is a powerful story of organizing, fundraising, the use of the media, legal strategies, and more. Author keith weldon medley grew up in new orleans, not far from where homer plessy lived. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the us or from the uk, depending on stock availability. Ferguson that a louisiana law requiring equal but separate accomodations for the white and colored races is constitutional. Ferguson, 1896 court action first case in 1892 plessy vs.
Ferguson, united states supreme court, 1896 plessy, a louisiana citizen of african american descent, was asked to move from the caucasian railway car. Medley states that jefferson davis surrendered at appomattox courthouse. 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. In 1892, homer plessy who was seveneighths caucasian agreed to participate in a test to challenge the act. 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. Who was the lone dissenter on the supreme court and what did he argue. Ferguson 1896 the united states supreme court upheld racial segregation of passengers in railroad coaches as required by louisiana law. Ferguson established that the policy of separate but equal was legal and states could pass laws requiring segregation of the races. Racial discrimination was attacked on a particularly broad front by the civil rights act of 1875. The committee of citizens challenged the constitutionality of the law on behalf of plessy, claiming it violated the equal protection law under the. On may 18, 1896, the supreme court ruled separatebutequal facilities constitutional on intrastate railroads.
If the accommodations are separate but equal, then the law is constitutional. This legislation made it a crime for an individual to deny the. In this informational text, jessica mcbirney discusses a landmark supreme court case known as plessy v. The judge, john howard ferguson, disagreed, ruling that the state had the right to regulate railroads that operated within state boundaries. Ferguson 1896 the plessy v ferguson case started in 1892, when homer plessy was boarding a train which took place in new orleans, louisiana. 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. Ferguson apush questions show up frequently on the exam. 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. Even though he was oneeighth african american, he was still required to sit in a jim crow car, along with african americans, separated from the whites.
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 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. 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. He was solicited by the comite des citoyens committee of citizens, a group of new orleans residents who sought to repeal the act. The decision legitimized the many state laws reestablishing racial segregation that had been passed.
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. 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. The court ruled that the constitution doesnt guarantee plessy can sit where he wants. The case was appealed again and again until it finally reached the u. Ferguson 1896, the supreme court considered the constitutionality of a louisiana law passed in 1890 providing. 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. 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. Republican president, 18971901, who represented the conservative. Even after the civil war and the passage of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, segregation was a fact of life. 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.
It was a 7 to 1 decision in favor of ferguson and the louisiana law. 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. Ferguson was the first major inquiry into the meaning of the fourteenth amendments 1868 equalprotection clause. Supreme court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the separate but. Ferguson 1896 during the era of reconstruction, black americans political rights were affirmed by three constitutional amendments and numerous laws passed by congress. Ferguson decision, segregation became even more ensconced through a battery of southern laws and social customs known as jim crow. Ferguson is an important court case because of the background of the case, the. Ferguson, 1896 in the spring of 1896 homer plessy proceeded to sit in a white only section of a train car in louisiana.
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. Ferguson is an important court case because of the background of the case. Across the country, laws mandated separate accommodations on buses and trains, and in hotels, theaters, and schools. Constitution dealt with political and not social equality. This is one of those landmark supreme court cases that you really need to know. Using the full text of the courts opinion, along with a selection of responses to the ruling, brook thomas allows students to recreate a context of the complicated debates and conditions in which the decision took place. John howard ferguson born june 10, 1838, was an american lawyer and judge from louisiana, most famous as the defendant in the plessy vs. It basically defined racial policy in the period between reconstruction and the civil rights movement. The case challenged racial segregation in public areas in the late 19th century. By declaring that jim crow laws were constitutional, the nations highest court created an atmosphere of legalized discrimination that endured for nearly. 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. On june 7, 1892, homer plessy agreed to be arrested for refusing to move from a seat reserved for whites. Ferguson 1896 complete audiobook of the united states supreme court opinion duration. Ferguson decision made legal a system of separate but equal racial segregation not overruled until 1954.
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