Plessy v. Ferguson Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) "The object of the [Fourteenth] Amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political, equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either." —Justice Henry Billings Brown, speaking for the majority TABLE OF CONTENTS Resources Activities 2 About landmarkcases.org The Case 3 Teaching Recommendations Reinforcing the Case Facts with a Based on Your Time Cartoon (online only) 4 Background Summary and Questions 19 Does Treating People Equally Mean Treating Them the Same? • • • Reading Level • • Reading Level 21 Fourteenth Amendment v. • Reading Level Tenth Amendment: Federalism 12 Diagram of How the Case Moved Through the Court System 23 Interpreting the Constitution 14 Key Excerpts from the Majority After The Case Opinion 26 The Impact of the Case: Separate But Equal 17 Key Excerpts from the Dissenting Opinion 27 How a Dissent Can Presage a Ruling Full Text of the Majority Opinion (online Case Study on Integration - Little only) Rock (online only) © 2000 Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society 1 Visit www.landmarkcases.org Plessy v. Ferguson About landmarkcases.org This site was developed to provide teachers with a full range of resources and activities to support the teaching of landmark Supreme Court cases, helping students explore the key issues of each case. The "Resources" section features basic building blocks such as background summaries and excerpts of opinions that can be used in multiple ways. The "Activities" section contains a range of short activities and in-depth lessons that can be completed with students. While these activities are online, many of them can be adapted for use in a one-computer classroom or a classroom with no computer. Depending upon the amount of time you have to teach the case, you may want to use one or more of the "Resources" or "Activities" in conjunction with one or more of the general teaching strategies. These general teaching strategies include moot court activities, political cartoon analysis, continuum exercises, and Web site evaluation. If you have time constraints, look at the Teaching Recommendations on page 3. Feel free to experiment with these materials! © 2000 Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society 2 Visit www.landmarkcases.org Plessy v. Ferguson Teaching Recommendations Based on Your Time If you have one day . • Begin with the activity titled "Does Treating People Equally Mean Treating Them the Same?" Discuss situations where equal treatment requires the same treatment and where equal treatment requires different treatment. • Read the background summary as a class. Have students identify the relevant facts in the case, using the questions as a guide. • For homework, have students read the excerpt from the majority opinion and answer the accompanying questions. If you have two days . • Complete all activities for the first day. • On the second day, complete the activity titled "Fourteenth Amendment v. Tenth Amendment: Federalism." • In class or for homework, have students read the excerpt from the majority opinion and answer the accompanying questions. If you have three days . • Complete all activities for the first and second days. • On the third day, clarify students' understanding of the majority opinion. Read the dissenting opinion as a class and identify differences in reasoning between them. • Complete the activity titled "How a Dissent Can Presage a Ruling." • For homework, if students have access to computers and the Internet, have them investigate the "Case Study on Integration - Little Rock." If you have four days . • Complete all the activities for the first, second, and third days. • On the fourth day, depending on your students' level, complete the activity "Interpreting the Constitution." • If the activity "Interpreting the Constitution" is not grade-level appropriate, have students complete the online activity "Case Study on Integration - Little Rock." © 2000 Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society 3 Visit www.landmarkcases.org Plessy v. Ferguson Background Summary and Questions • • • In 1890, Louisiana passed a statute called the "Separate Car Act", which stated "that all railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in this state, shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white, and colored races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations. " The penalty for sitting in the wrong compartment was a fine of $25 or 20 days in jail. The Plessy case was carefully orchestrated by both the Citizens' Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Act, a group of blacks who raised $3000 to challenge the Act, and the East Louisiana Railroad Company, which sought to terminate the Act largely for monetary reasons. They chose a 30- year-old shoemaker named Homer Plessy, a citizen of the United States who was one-eighth black and a resident of the state of Louisiana. On June 7, 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class passage from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana and sat in the railroad car designated for whites only. The railroad officials, following through on the arrangement, arrested Plessy and charged him with violating the Separate Car Act. Well known advocate for black rights Albion Tourgee, a white lawyer, agreed to argue the case without compensation. In the criminal district court for the parish of Orleans, Plessy argued that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. Thirteenth Amendment Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Fourteenth Amendment Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. John Howard Ferguson was the judge presiding over Plessy's criminal case in the district court. He had previously declared the Separate Car Act "unconstitutional on trains that traveled through several states." However, in Plessy's case he decided that the state could choose to regulate railroad companies that © 2000 Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society 4 Visit www.landmarkcases.org Plessy v. Ferguson operated solely within the state of Louisiana. Therefore, Ferguson found Plessy guilty and declared the Separate Car Act constitutional. Plessy appealed the case to the Louisiana State Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision that the Louisiana law as constitutional. Plessy petitioned for a writ of error from the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge John Howard Ferguson was named in the case brought before the United States Supreme Court (Plessy v. Ferguson) because he had been named in the petition to the Louisiana Supreme Court and not because he was a party to the initial lawsuit. © 2000 Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society 5 Visit www.landmarkcases.org Plessy v. Ferguson Background Summary and Questions • • • Questions to Consider: 1. What law did Homer Plessy violate? How did Plessy violate this law? 2. What rights do the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution provide? 3. If you were Plessy's lawyer, how would you justify your claim that the "Separate Car Act" violates the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments? 4. In State of Louisiana v. Plessy, Judge Ferguson decided that the state could choose to regulate railroad companies that operated within the state even though he had previously declared the "Separate Car Act" unconstitutional on trains that traveled through several states. If an act is declared unconstitutional in one case, shouldn't it be held unconstitutional in all cases? How do you think Judge Ferguson could legally justify making this distinction? 5. Is it possible for two races to remain separated while striving for equality? Are separation and equality compatible? Why or why not? 6. Can you think of an example or situation where separation does not mean inequality? © 2000 Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society 6 Visit www.landmarkcases.org Plessy v. Ferguson Background Summary and Questions • • In 1890, Louisiana passed a statute called the "Separate Car Act". This law declared that all rail companies carrying passengers in Louisiana had to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and non-white passengers. The penalty for sitting in the wrong compartment was a fine of $25 or 20 days in jail. Two parties wanted to challenge the constitutionality of the Separate Car Act. A group of black citizens who raised money to overturn the law worked together with the East Louisiana Railroad Company, which sought to terminate the Act largely for monetary reasons. They chose a 30-year-old shoemaker named Homer Plessy, a citizen of the United States who was one-eighth black and a resident of the state of Louisiana. On June 7, 1892, Plessy purchased a first-class passage from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana and sat in the railroad car for "White" passengers. The railroad officials knew Plessy was coming and arrested him for violating the Separate Car Act. Well known advocate for black rights Albion Tourgee, a white lawyer, agreed to argue the case for free. Plessy argued in court that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.