Plessy v Ferguson

A detailed Summary of Plessy v Ferguson

In 1896 the Supreme Court had held in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregation was allowed as long as equal facilities were provided for both races. Although that decision was made for passenger on railroads, the principle of "separate but equal" was applied thereafter to all aspects of public life. Why after fifty years did the Supreme Court finally decided to overturn the Plessy v. Ferguson decision for the Brown v. Board case? There are many factors that changed the mind of the Supreme Court at this time. The main reason why the Supreme Court overturned the Plessy case came from Chief of Justice Earl Warren. He found that it wrong for children of the same age to be separated from each other while growing up in this world. Many fought for the Brown decision to be passed for example teachers, and industrial workers and many more. Many African Americans from 1896 to 1954 were fighting for their rights and many cases went to the Supreme Court which was denied.

The Plessy v. Ferguson case took place in 1896 when a man named Plessy sat in the "White" section of a car in the train. He was arrest and was put on trail. Plessy went to court and argued that the separate cars violated the Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. The judge

In 1952 the court was faced with the Brown v. Board case. This case was one of the most important cases in America's history. A little girl named Linda Brown was a black girl attending a public school in Topeka, Kansas. She was denied admission into a white elementary school, which caused her to walk miles to her bus, which then brought her to her school. This was nonsense for her to travel this far by herself to get to school everyday when there was a white school only blocks away from her house. When being denied from the white public school they brought this to the Supreme Court. Her father was outraged and wanted something to be done. He feared for his daughter everyday when traveling back and forth from school. This incident just set off everything and African Americans wanted there right and not just separated but equal rights they wanted everything to be "EQUAL" so they brought it to the Supreme Court.

So, why did the Supreme Court in 1954 overturn the Plessy decision and make it right for both races to attend school together? This case went on for many years and they finally came up with decision to overturn Plessy's "separate but equal" for the Browns decisions and make it right for two races to attend school together and that " separate but equal" didn't attain to schools and children's educations. The fourteenth amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the justification thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the stat wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privilege or immunities of citizens of the United States.... (pg, 242)" Since we plainly had the law tha

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Approximate Word count = 1137
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History