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 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.
This was a petition filed in the supreme court of Louisiana
in 1896, by Homer Plessy, the plaintiff. He filed this petition against the Honorable John H. Ferguson, judge of
The petitioner was a citizen of the United States and a descent meaning he had both white and African American ethnic backgrounds. Remember in this period of time blacks were not considered equal to whites. Mr. Plessy to be exact was seven-eights Caucasian and one-eighth African American blood. The amount of African American in his blood was hardly notice able. So he felt he was entitled to every recognition, rights, privileges, and immunities secured to the citizens of the United States of the of the white race by its constitution and