The 1920's: The Plessy V. Ferguson Case

Laws are enforced to provide our society with safety, boundaries, protection of rights, and overall justice. The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights were established years ago to reduce the tensions and conflicts of our newly founded nation. It sought out to accomplish this by providing justice through an equal voice for all citizens. However, this equal voice for justice more often times than not is squandered and diminished. Things such as race, religion, and culture often times blur the lines of the law and fair outcomes in a court. Individuals feel that their beliefs are more important than the protection of rights and the deliverance of law or the law itself cannot go outside of its limitations to provide justice. This is apparent in the court cases of Marbury v Madison, Plessy v Ferguson, and the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. These cases clearly exemplify that the law does not always provide justice, although it endeavors to do so.

Plessy v. Ferguson , a very important case of 1896 in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legality of racial segregation. At the time of the ruling, segregation between blacks and whites already existed in most schools, restaurants, and other public facilities in the American South. In the Plessy decision, the Supreme Court ruled that such segregation did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This amendment provides equal protection of the law to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The court ruled in Plessy that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities for blacks and whites were “equal.”

The case “Plessy v. Ferguson” was a test of a Louisiana law’s constitutionality. It took 50 years to realize it, but the constitutionally and morally right way was to end segregation. This case was never about Plessy not being able to ride on a white only car on a train headed to Covington, Louisiana. It was about a group of black citizens trying to stop segregation from ever

As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. As immigrants fled from Europe, the economy improved, and new machines offered convenience and luxury from the kitchen to the streets. However, with all change comes opposition. The 1920s revealed a conflict between traditional America and the new attitude and lifestyle through the changing role of women, continued dominance of Christian values, and racism.

Plessy vs. Ferguson impacted America in both unfortunate and strong ways. It all started in 1892 were a man named Homer Plessy refused to sit in a Jim Crow car that was for blacks only. According to the laws of Louisiana Homer broke one of their segregation laws. Even though Homer was 7/8 whites and 1/8 black he was still arrested and taken to jail. Plessy made a compliant that later on let to a case. Judge Ferguson ruled against his argument that making Plessy sit on a separate seat violated his constitutional rights. Afterwards Homers lawyer insisted to the Supreme Court that the Louisiana’s separate car act violated the 13 and 14th amendment, which were abolishing slavery and grand citizenship rights to U.S citizens, unfortunately the Supreme

‘The 1920’s was a decade of reform in almost every aspect of society. Things were becoming modernized, and despite many objections to progression, Women’s rights to new music genres and to sports being better than ever, and new cars such as the model t being in production. The 1920s brought alot of high social and cultural trends. By the end of the decade there was almost one car per family in the united states.s and comportment, the new consumer’s society, the Harlem Renaissance and the new principles of this decade paved the road for Henry Ford’s new Model T, and a whole new America’(Weinberg). The 1920s was a good decade for people back then.with everthing to new music genre and to sports being

African Americans were never treated the same as other Americans. One day a black man who looked white named Homer Plessy got sick of sitting in a Jim Crow car so he decided to purchase a first class ticket in the white’s only section on the train. Plessy told the conductor that he was 1/8 black and he refused to move from the car. Removed from the train Plessy was in jail overnight and was released on a 500 dollar bond. Homer Plessy protested that his 13th and his 14th amendments rights were violated. This case became known as Plessy v. Ferguson. This case upheld the constitutionality of segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.

The landmark case of Plessy v. Ferguson is a Constitutional case in which it had to be decided who the constitution meant when it said "all men are created equal." This case is very important to our constitution and to the people being governed by the constitution because it brought up issues that hadn't been discussed in the U.S before. This case shows the degree of federalism and how much the government paid attention to it. The amendments in the constitution do not apply to a simple race or ethnicity. Throughout history laws have been made and destroyed at the cost of colored people, in the Plessy v. Ferguson case it is shown that due to the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments all citizens have equal protection under the law. Plessy was denied his right, as well as other colored people because they belonged to different bathrooms, they belonged to different train cars and they belonged to different water fountains at this time in history, but Plessy'

Ferguson case forced African Americans to feel “less than” and inferior to white people. They were reminded on a daily basis that society truly did not value them and did not consider them equal. Although segregation became illegal many years ago, the effects of Plessy vs. Ferguson are still felt today. History is destined to repeat itself and there is no doubt that it is being repeated now more than ever. It is hard to put into words the impacts that the ruling had and continues to have on society. The simple answer would be to turn on the news and watch it unfold before your eyes. Whether it be through protests or random acts of violence, a percentage of people in this country have seemed to regress and channel the hatred and emotion that the people who considered Plessy vs. Ferguson a victory had. While we may not be forcing “non-white” people to use a separate bus or bathroom, a case can be made that they are not receiving the same level of treatment that white people

Racism has been a part of our country since the early ages. Historically, racism and equality have been central issues that have divided our country. Many actions from the past such as the decision in the Plessy versus Ferguson case, and present day actions like The Mississippi school system case have been the ongoing battle in today 's society. The struggle to achieve equality was made even more difficult by the legislation that is now considered racist in the Plessy versus Ferguson case.

The 1920’s was a great and important decade for the United States. After World War I, the United States went through events and changes that, overall, made the United States a much better place to live. New advances in technology and industry improved American life in more ways than just one. Americans had better wages during this time, more leisure time, and overall, had a better life than ever before. In addition, the 1920’s advocated social and cultural change as well. During this time period, the United States did not return to Normalcy, and instead developed attitudes that changed the life of the people of the United States forever thanks to social changes, cultural changes and changes in technology.

The Fourteenth Amendment grants that every law applies to all persons in the same way. This amendment does not discriminate against persons of a different gender, race, religion, citizenship, ethnicity, or any other group. As Judge Harlan stated in the Plessy v. Ferguson case, “Our Constitution is colorblind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.”

The act of inequality unfolds further in the late 19th century in various parts of United States towards individuals of color, explained in the supreme court case Plessy v. Ferguson, to Wells-Barnett's "A Red Record" in 1895 and 1896. The separation between whites and African Americans emerge into the end of the reconstruction era and a period of social segregation arises. Supreme court case Plessy v. Ferguson addresses the separation of "railway carriages for the white and colored races". (TAN 24) In this case, the court discloses Ferguson's decision of not violating the 13th and 14th amendment, supporting the idea of "separate but equal". Furthermore, the result of Plessy v Ferguson gave states more of a reason to further the act of racial

After the end of Reconstruction in 1877 Southern state legislatures enacted Jim Crow laws to legally segregate the races. In 1890, the Louisiana legislature passed a law requiring railroads to separate passengers on the basis of race. Trains that had two or more passenger cars were required to have designated seating for different races. If there was only one passenger car in a train, these cars were to be divided by a curtain or some other form of partition. A fine of $25 or up to 20 days in jail was the penalty for sitting in the wrong compartment.

The 1920s was a huge time period for the United States. Modern technology such as automobiles, radios, and advertisement had taken America by storm. Rural areas were on the decline. American cities had attracted not only rural and urban citizens, but also people from all over the world. In America during the 1920s, citizens struggled with accepting other races and ethnicities into their widely populated country.