Plessy v Ferguson Case

The background on this case is that a private railroad company in Louisiana allowed the segregation of white people are the only ones that can buy first class tickets, and blacks and whites can be separated. Plessy in 1892 , bought a first class ticket. He was only 1/8 African american, and the rest white. When he boarded the train the conductor found out and said he violated the Louisiana separate car act. He was forced to get off against his will, and Plessy was arrested as he would not freely move.

The lawyers for Plessy talked mostly about the separate but equal act, and how this was not equal, in fact the conditions were much worse. They also stated that the act is redundant and is wasteful just like segregated schools and movie theaters. Another argument was from the bible and how everyone should be equal. One lawyer stated that he paid for the ticket and that the state violated his 13th amendment because we was being treated like he was a slave, but in fact Plessy is a citizen. They did a good job at defending their client and getting the point across that the state violated his 14th amendment act.

The state (Ferguson), used the fact that the separation of cars on the train did not violate the 13th and 14th amendment. They also stated that he broke the law willingly. He knew that was not supposed to be on that side. They also pushed that the state should have their own rules and that differentiates them from the federal government. The also defended the fact that the separate but equal act did not create bad environments for African Americans.

Both sides did a great job at defending, but in this case, I believe that the side of Plessy made better statements to defend their side. But actually, the state had won back when this actually happened. This case was eye opening to me and seems kinda insane to me since he was mostly white. How can a state define who is what if people are mixed. It is crazy to me to this actually happened, but that is our history.