Top 20 Interesting Facts about Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Top 20 Interesting Facts about Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

*Originally Published by by Ivone on July 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R on June 2023 and Updated by Vanessa R in January 2024

Plessy v. Ferguson, was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court. The Court had ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality. A doctrine that came to be known as “separate but equal”.

The decision legitimised the many state laws re-establishing racial segregation that had been passed in the American South after the end of the Reconstruction era (1865–1877).

Plessy v. Ferguson established the constitutionality of laws mandating separate but equal public accommodations for African Americans and whites. The U.S. Supreme Court’s majority held that such laws neither imposed a “badge of servitude” (in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery) nor infringed on the legal equality of blacks (in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection of the laws), because the accommodations were supposedly equal and separateness did not imply legal inferiority.

The following are Top 20 Interesting Facts about Plessy v. Ferguson ( 1896)

1. The case originated in 1892 as a challenge to Louisiana’s Separate Car Act (1890)

The law required that all railroads operating in the state provide “equal but separate accommodations” for white and African American passengers and prohibited passengers from entering accommodations other than those to which they had been assigned on the basis of their race. In 1891 a group of Creole professionals in New Orleans formed the Citizens’ Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law.

They hired Albion Tourgée, a Reconstruction-era judge and social reformer, as their legal counsel. As plaintiff in the test case, the committee chose a person of mixed race in order to support its contention that the law could not be consistently applied, because it failed to define the white and “coloured” races.

Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth African American, purchased a rail ticket for travel within Louisiana and took a seat in a car reserved for white passengers. (The state Supreme Court had ruled earlier that the law could not be applied to interstate travel.) After refusing to move to a car for African Americans, he was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act.

At Plessy’s trial in U.S. District Court, Judge John H. Ferguson dismissed his contention that the act was unconstitutional. After the state Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari, and oral arguments were heard on April 13, 1896.

2. Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court

Plaque on the history of Plessy v/s Ferguson photo by Unknown author Wikimedia

This was the decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident.

African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people. Rejecting Plessy’s argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the Supreme Court ruled that a law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between white people and Black people was not unconstitutional.

As a result, restrictive Jim Crow legislation and separate public accommodations based on race became commonplace.

3. Black resistance to segregation

The Southern Black people witnessed with horror the dawn of the Jim Crow era, members of the Black community in New Orleans decided to mount a resistance.

At the heart of the case that became Plessy v. Ferguson was a law passed in Louisiana in 1890 “. It was providing for separate railway carriages for the white and colored races.” It stipulated that all passenger railways had to provide these separate cars, which should be equal in facilities.

4. Plessy filed a petition against the presiding judge, Hon. John H. Ferguson

Homer Plessy Photo by unknown author Wikimedia

He was arrested and jailed. This was after refusing to leave the car at the conductor’s insistence. Plessy was convicted by a New Orleans court of violating the 1890 law.

He filed a petition against the presiding judge, Hon. John H. Ferguson. Plessy claimed that the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

5. Florida became the first state to mandate segregated railroad cars

It became the first state to legally require and enforce segregated railway cars in 1887. Several states followed suit including Mississippi and Texas. However, when Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act in 1890, something new happened.

6. Plessy v. Ferguson established the constitutionality of laws mandating separate but equal public accommodations for African Americans and whites.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s majority held that such laws neither imposed a “badge of servitude” (in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery) nor infringed on the legal equality of blacks (in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection of the laws), because the accommodations were supposedly equal and separateness did not imply legal inferiority.

7. It was important because it essentially established the constitutionality of racial segregation

As a controlling legal precedent, it prevented constitutional challenges to racial segregation for more than half a century until it was finally overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954).

8. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the only justice who thought the law was against the Constitution

John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833 – October 14, 1911) was an American Supreme Court associate justice photo by DCPL commons Wikimedia

The Supreme Court, in a 7-1 decision, ruled that the Louisiana law was valid. They said that requiring whites and blacks to ride in separate trains did not harm blacks in any way. He thought segregation made blacks feel inferior. He said that the Constitution is “color blind” and that the law should not treat any group better than any other group.

9.The ‘separate but equal’ doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson had no place in the field of public education

After the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared state-mandated segregation in public schools unconstitutional, the case was re-argued to determine how to correct the violations

10. The 14th Amendment was used after 60 years by the supreme court to give segregation into another look

Plaque on the history of Plessy v/s Ferguson photo by Unknown author Wikimedia

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, the court decided that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” and thus violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The ruling overturned Plessy and forced desegregation.

11. Plessy v. Ferguson played  a role in fueling the civil rights movement

The civil rights movement was greatly fuelled by Plessy v. Ferguson. The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold racial segregation laws under the “separate but equal” concept sparked outrage and served as a catalyst for activists and advocates of racial equality.

The decision exposed the widespread racism experienced by African Americans and inspired people and groups to oppose segregation and fight for civil rights. Plessy v. Ferguson served as a main focus and a reminder of the ongoing fight for equal rights, ultimately fueling the civil rights movement’s enthusiasm and drive to end racial segregation and achieve more racial fairness in the United States.

12. The legal battle was supported by a group of African activists

A group of African American activists supported the court battle in Plessy v. Ferguson. They supported Homer Plessy’s cause because they understood the need of contesting racial segregation laws. The legal efforts were supported both morally and financially by groups like the Comité des Citoyens.

These African American activists recognised the value of fighting discrimination and unfairness, and their backing was important in drawing attention to the injustice of segregation laws. 

13. Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, was a man of mixed-racial heritage

Homer Plessy was a man of mixed racial background and the plaintiff in the famous case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Homer had an African American parent and his other parent was European.  Plessy became a representative of resistance to racial discrimination by contesting Louisiana’s segregation laws.

His bravery and willingness to speak out against injustice highlighted the widespread problems with segregation and sparked important legal discussions. Homer Plessy’s involvement in the case brought attention to those with mixed racial backgrounds and highlighted the ongoing struggle for equality and civil rights in the United States.

14. The Plessy v. Ferguson decision had a long-lasting impact on American society

The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling had a major and long-lasting impact on American society. The decision, which upheld racial discrimination and established the “separate but equal” theory, firmly established discriminatory practices in many areas of daily life.

For nearly 60 years, it justified and supported racially segregated institutions, public spaces, and services. The decision increased racial bias, delayed social advancement, and widened racial gaps. Its effects on housing, transportation, education, and other parts of society were enormous. Plessy v. Ferguson serves as a sad reminder of the challenges faced in the fight for civil rights and acts as a precedent for following court cases.

15. The Supreme Court ruled quickly to uphold segregation

The Plessy v. Ferguson case was argued before the United States Supreme Court on April 13, 1896, and a final decision was handed down strikingly fast just over a month later, on May 18, 1896.

The 8-1 majority decision ruling against Homer Plessy’s constitutional challenges and upholding the racist concept of “separate but equal” facilities was delivered with very little deliberation, indicating the shocking ease and comfort with which the highest court in the land affirmed segregationist principles. Most of the esteemed justices saw no moral or legal contradiction in forcing certain citizens into separated public spaces based purely on race. Their ruling reinforced divisions that the Equal Protection Clause was intended to abolish.

16. Justice Henry Billings Brown penned the majority ruling opinion

Frances Benjamin Johnston, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Associate Justice Henry Billings Brown, an ardent states’ rights supporter from Michigan appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, wrote the infamous majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson which upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the dishonest and unjust “separate but equal” doctrine. Justice Brown disturbingly stated in his opinion that segregation supposedly did not necessarily stamp African Americans with a humiliating “badge of inferiority” or indicate their inferior legal status. His ruling gave judicial approval to the spread of Jim Crow laws designed to separate white and black Americans in nearly all walks of public life.

17. Justice John Marshall Harlan’s dissent warned of dangerous divisions

Mathew Brady or Levin Handy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The lone dissenting voice in Plessy v. Ferguson belonged to Justice John Marshall Harlan, a former slaveholding Kentucky lawyer who abandoned his past racist views to become a staunch supporter of equal rights later in his career. Harlan’s historically respected dissent warned with stunning accuracy that the decision would dangerously promote divisions in American civic life and society along racial lines for generations to come.

He further predicted that this flawed ruling would perpetuate public resentment amongst African Americans towards the justice system that failed to protect their rights and dignity. Harlan’s courageous dissent flagged the violations of citizen equality the decision ushered in.

18. Homer Plessy’s attorney deliberately orchestrated his arrest

see above, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Homer Plessy’s attorney in the landmark case was Albion Tourgée, a respected judge and activist who fought vigorously for equal rights for African Americans. He deliberately orchestrated Plessy’s arrest in 1892 for violating Louisiana’s segregationist Separate Car Act, which mandates separate train cars.

Tourgée arranged this scenario to replicate the conditions of previous challenges brought against segregated transportation rules in northern states. He aimed to force a Supreme Court ruling that would affirm constitutional protections prohibiting this type of blatant discrimination. However, the Court failed dramatically with its ruling codifying “separate but equal.”

19. Raising legal funds for appeals proved difficult

The Committee of Citizens, a New Orleans-based civil rights organisation, raised funds and provided legal support to back Homer Plessy’s Supreme Court case. However, they encountered difficulties securing adequate financing as the case dragged through various appeals for years.

The struggle to fundraise the case demonstrated that segregationist sentiments ran disturbingly deep during this oppressive era. Major financial institutions and donors were reluctant to publicly oppose the policy of strict racial segregation so forcefully implemented at the time under the heavy hand of Jim Crow laws.

20. The decision influenced apartheid-era segregation in South Africa

The Plessy v. Ferguson decision and accompanying “separate but equal” doctrine reverberated far beyond American shores in the decades after 1896. Segregationist governments like South Africa noted the ruling to help legally justify the rampant expansion of apartheid measures mandating strict, structural separation of racial groups across society.

The fact that America’s highest court affirmed this twisted segregation logic gave credibility to similar race-based systems of oppression taking root globally. Though the situations differed greatly, America’s failure in Plessy v. Ferguson undeniably gave legal cover for other regimes pursuing similarly reprehensible, racist policies under the false guise of equity between groups.