{"id":9916,"date":"2017-05-22T20:49:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T03:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/hs\/?p=9916"},"modified":"2017-05-22T20:49:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T03:49:35","slug":"plessy-v-ferguson-apush-topics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/hs\/ap\/plessy-v-ferguson-apush-topics\/","title":{"rendered":"Plessy v. Ferguson: APUSH Topics to Study for Test Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Plessy<\/p>\n

Plessy v. Ferguson<\/em> APUSH questions show up frequently on the exam. This is one of those \u201clandmark\u201d Supreme Court cases that you really need to know. The impact of this decision was huge. It basically defined racial policy in the period between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement. Read on for everything you need to know about Plessy v. Ferguson<\/em> for the AP US History exam. <\/p>\n

What is Plessy V. Ferguson<\/em>?<\/h2>\n

Plessy v. Ferguson<\/em> is a key Supreme Court case in U.S. history. It shaped racial policy in the United States for over half a century by upholding the legality of racial segregation. <\/p>\n

Case background: <\/h3>\n

In 1890, Louisiana passed the Separate Car Act, which required separate cars for blacks and whites on railroads. A civil rights activist group decided to test the law. They wanted someone to get arrested on the basis of this law so they could challenge the law in court, hoping to get it overturned. Homer Plessy was their test case. Plessy was a free-born, mixed race man, and though his heritage was \u215e European and only \u215b African, under the law, he was classified as black and would have to ride in a \u201cblack-only\u201d railcar. In 1892, the group got Plessy to buy a ticket, seat himself in a white car, and get arrested on purpose. <\/p>\n

The case went to trial, first at the state level in a case known then as Homer Plessy v. State of Louisiana<\/em>. Plessy\u2019s lawyers argued that the state law failed to protect his rights and was in violation of the 13th and 14th Amendments. The judge, John Howard Ferguson, disagreed, ruling that the state had the right to regulate railroads that operated within state boundaries. Plessy was found guilty and charged a fine. <\/p>\n

The case was appealed again and again until it finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. <\/p>\n

The decision: <\/h3>\n

In a 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier decision of the lower courts and ruled against Plessy. The justices argued that the Louisiana law did not violate the 14th Amendment, nor did it imply the inferiority of blacks. Instead, they said that states had the right to make public policy involving racial segregation, assuming accommodations were \u201cseparate but equal.\u201d <\/p>\n

Important year to note for Plessy V. Ferguson<\/em>: <\/h2>\n

1896 (the year of the Supreme Court decision) <\/p>\n

Why is the Plessy V. Ferguson <\/em>case so important?<\/h2>\n

Plessy v. Ferguson<\/em> provided a legal justification for racial segregation. It essentially gave the green light to Jim Crow. <\/p>\n

The impact of this case went well beyond railcars. Now that \u201cseparate but equal\u201d was deemed perfectly legal and constitutional, many states went crazy with it, segregating everything from schools and restaurants to water fountains and restrooms and everything in between. Also, even though \u201cseparate but equal\u201d was the standard they claimed, this often wasn\u2019t really the case. Facilities designated for blacks were often of lower quality than those meant for whites. <\/p>\n

These policies remained on the books all the way until the mid-1900s. The \u201cseparate but equal\u201d doctrine remained the law of the land in many places until it was overturned by the Supreme Court in the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education<\/em>. <\/p>\n

What are some historical people and events related to Plessy V. Ferguson<\/em>? <\/h2>\n