Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

The Challenge

The Plessy v. Ferguson case was a coordinated effort to challenge the constitutionality of the segregation laws in transportation throughout the south. In 1892, Homer Plessy purchased a one-way ticket aboard the East Louisiana Railway for travel from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana. Plessy was arrested for violating the 1890 Louisiana Separate Car Act, which obligated railway companies operating in the state to provide equal but separate accommodation for whites and blacks. This act also denied first-class accommodations to nonwhite women and men who could afford to pay the higher fare.

Plessy was not discernibly African American based on visual physical features; his racial and ethnic background was such that he was an octaroon, given that he was seven-eighths Caucasian and one-eighth black. The great majority of the south subscribed to the “one-drop” clause, which designated as black any person with one drop of “black blood.” Based on the racial designations at the time, knowledge of Plessy's racial descent meant that he would be treated as a black person. The segregated transportation laws impacted all blacks throughout the south and especially Louisiana Creoles, who had achieved some measure of economic and social vitality. Plessy paid the higher fare so that he could obtain a first-class ticket on the train, and he refused to move to the blacks-only car upon request. Plessy was immediately arrested and remanded for trial.

Court Case

In the initial case of Plessy v. the State of Louisiana, Plessy argued that the state law requiring segregated trains had denied him his rights under the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. The court ruled that segregated trains could be operated within the state in accordance with the state law at the time. As a result, Plessy was convicted.

The ruling was then appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, which upheld the lower court's order. This was followed by an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 in order to reverse the lower court's decree. The primary arguments used on Plessy's behalf were that his Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated. The Thirteenth Amendment was established in 1865 and outlawed slavery.

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