United States History Student Edition

ANALYZING SUPREME COURT CASES Plessy v. Ferguson

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE Plessy v. Ferguson began in Louisiana in 1892 when a group of citizens in New Orleans challenged the constitutionality of a state law that required whites and African Americans to ride in separate railroad cars. An African American man named Homer Plessy refused to move from a car reserved for whites. He was arrested and later found guilty in court. The case was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Plessy argued that the Louisiana law, called the Separate Car Act, was in violation of two Reconstruction amendments. It violated the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship to African Americans and guaranteed them equal protection of the law. THE DECISION OF THE COURT In 1896, by a vote of 7–1, the Court ruled against Homer Plessy. The Court stated that the law did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment because it did not actually enslave Plessy. Its decision in regard to the Fourteenth Amendment violation was more significant. The Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed only legal equality for African Americans—not social equality. Racial segregation was legal, the Court said, if public facilities among African Americans and whites were of equal quality. In practice, the separate facilities for African Americans were far from equal. Southern states spent much more money on schools and other facilities for whites than on those for African Americans. Although the phrase “separate but equal” was never used in the Court’s written opinion, it was that doctrine that Plessy enshrined for decades to come.

1. Explaining What was Homer Plessy’s argument in regard to the Fourteenth Amendment? 2. Analyzing What was the significance of the Plessy decision?

During the exodus of the 1870s, more than 20,000 African Americans migrated to Kansas. Others became soldiers. They served in segregated army units and fought in the western Indian Wars from 1867 to 1896. According to legend, the men were called “Buffalo Soldiers” by the Apache and the Cheyenne. The soldiers adopted the name as a sign of honor and respect. Buffalo Soldiers also served in Cuba, Reconstruction was a success in some ways and a failure in others. It helped the South rebuild its economy, but much of the region remained agricultural and poor. African Americans gained greater equality and shared power in government, but their advances did not last and they continued to face discrimination and violence. Yet the seeds of freedom and equality had been planted. For a long time, African Americans struggled to gain their full rights. the Philippines, Hawaii, and Mexico. Reconstruction’s Impact

7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING 1. Describing What was the purpose of Jim Crow laws? 2. Explaining Describe who the “Buffalo Soldiers” were and why they volunteered. LESSON ACTIVITIES 1. Informative/Explanatory Writing How did the South after Reconstruction compare with the pre-Civil War South? Did the lives of African Americans in the South change after Reconstruction? Write a paragraph that answers these questions. 2. Collaborating Using facts and clear reasons, work with two or three of your classmates to create two lists: one showing political gains African Americans made during Reconstruction and the other showing ways that African Americans experienced discrimination during and after the same period. Then, using your lists, write a speech that argues that Reconstruction was either a success or a failure.

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