Butler Community College
Trial of the Century
Noah Stewart
U.S. History 2
Mr. Clark
3/27/17
Concerning the late 19th and 20th century, there have been many famous court cases regarding civil rights issues and the precedents they have set in years to come. However, no such case has accomplished both so easily as the trial of Plessy v. Ferguson. Taking place directly after the reconstruction era, this trial is crucial to establishing the verdicts of latter court cases, shaping popular beliefs, as well as representing the opinions and mindsets of the American people post-civil war. Although the verdict of Plessy v. Ferguson may have set negative precedents concerning civil rights lawsuits, the case progressed its movement through …show more content…
These laws prevented blacks from testifying in court, voting, assembling in groups, and eventually sharing the same railcars as whites. This leads to the most valuable question, what is Plessy v. Ferguson? Taking place post-civil war, and immediately after the reconstruction period of America, Plessy v. Ferguson was both a rallying cry for the civil rights movement as well as a warning shot from many white supremacists. Homer Adolph Plessy was a 34-year-old shoemaker from New Orleans Louisiana (Aaseng 11). On June 7th, 1892, after purchasing a first-class ticket to Covington Louisiana, Plessy steps on board a train, seats himself in a coach seat reserved only for white travelers, and is arrested just a few minutes later for refusing to move (Aaseng 12). Plessy is charged with violating the new Louisiana Separate Car Act that provides separate but equal accommodations for passengers. In response to this, Plessy and his lawyers argue against the judge, John Howard Ferguson, that the case should be dropped considering its unconstitutional nature (Aaseng 13). After reaching the Supreme Court in 1896, …show more content…
Ferguson” 39). Justice Brown dismissed Plessy’s thirteenth amendment argument, claiming that blacks and whites were indeed politically equal but not socially equal (Anderson, “Plessy v. Ferguson” 41). Furthermore, that legislation cannot fix social inequality, as we see in Justice Brown’s speech. “If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them on the same plane” (Plessy v. Ferguson, FindLaw 552). Leaving
Trial of the Century
Noah Stewart
U.S. History 2
Mr. Clark
3/27/17
Concerning the late 19th and 20th century, there have been many famous court cases regarding civil rights issues and the precedents they have set in years to come. However, no such case has accomplished both so easily as the trial of Plessy v. Ferguson. Taking place directly after the reconstruction era, this trial is crucial to establishing the verdicts of latter court cases, shaping popular beliefs, as well as representing the opinions and mindsets of the American people post-civil war. Although the verdict of Plessy v. Ferguson may have set negative precedents concerning civil rights lawsuits, the case progressed its movement through …show more content…
These laws prevented blacks from testifying in court, voting, assembling in groups, and eventually sharing the same railcars as whites. This leads to the most valuable question, what is Plessy v. Ferguson? Taking place post-civil war, and immediately after the reconstruction period of America, Plessy v. Ferguson was both a rallying cry for the civil rights movement as well as a warning shot from many white supremacists. Homer Adolph Plessy was a 34-year-old shoemaker from New Orleans Louisiana (Aaseng 11). On June 7th, 1892, after purchasing a first-class ticket to Covington Louisiana, Plessy steps on board a train, seats himself in a coach seat reserved only for white travelers, and is arrested just a few minutes later for refusing to move (Aaseng 12). Plessy is charged with violating the new Louisiana Separate Car Act that provides separate but equal accommodations for passengers. In response to this, Plessy and his lawyers argue against the judge, John Howard Ferguson, that the case should be dropped considering its unconstitutional nature (Aaseng 13). After reaching the Supreme Court in 1896, …show more content…
Ferguson” 39). Justice Brown dismissed Plessy’s thirteenth amendment argument, claiming that blacks and whites were indeed politically equal but not socially equal (Anderson, “Plessy v. Ferguson” 41). Furthermore, that legislation cannot fix social inequality, as we see in Justice Brown’s speech. “If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them on the same plane” (Plessy v. Ferguson, FindLaw 552). Leaving