plessy vs ferguson
who was involved? think about people or groups who were involved and affected by this event.
what happened?
where did the event take place?
when did the event take place?
why is this important to georgias history?
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark United States Supreme Court case. The major parties involved in this case were Homer Plessy, a 30-year-old man of mixed race, and John H. Ferguson, who was the judge of the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans. Additionally, the groups affected by this event were African Americans and the larger American society.
In 1892, Homer Plessy intentionally violated Louisiana's Separate Car Act, which required segregated railway cars. He boarded a "whites-only" car but refused to move to the designated African American car. Plessy's actions were intended to challenge the constitutionality of racial segregation under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
The event took place in New Orleans, Louisiana, specifically on the East Louisiana Railway.
The case was argued before the Supreme Court on April 13, 1896, and the decision was rendered on May 18, 1896.
Plessy v. Ferguson is of significant importance to Georgia's history because it solidified the "separate but equal" doctrine, which allowed for racial segregation in public facilities and institutions. This decision had far-reaching consequences, not only in Georgia but across the entire United States, as it provided legal support for the implementation of discriminatory Jim Crow laws and practices that greatly restricted the rights and opportunities of African Americans. The ruling in this case was only overturned nearly six decades later with the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.