Events Occuring Around the Same Time
After the ending of the Reconstruction in 1877, the Southern State governments became a “white man’s government”. Jim Crow Laws, the new State legislatures, legally allowed segregating the races and imposing African Americans being second-class citizens (Harrison 114) . This was enforced by criminal penalties and created separate schools, parks, waiting rooms, and other public accommodations that were segregated. In the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, the Court made it understandable that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provided no promise against private segregation (Anderson 75). Due to that, questions would be asked about what protection the Fourteenth Amendment provided in matters of public segregation.
The Louisiana legislature passed a law that stated the railroads had to have separate passengers based on race in 1890. Trains that had two or more passenger cars were obligated to have a separate seating area for different races. The cars would be divided by a curtain or another form of partition if there was only one passenger car in a train. If a person would sit in the wrong compartment, the state would fine them $25 or 20 days in jail.
In the late 19th century, people were intimidated to stand up and protect their individual rights. ("Info Please")
The Louisiana legislature passed a law that stated the railroads had to have separate passengers based on race in 1890. Trains that had two or more passenger cars were obligated to have a separate seating area for different races. The cars would be divided by a curtain or another form of partition if there was only one passenger car in a train. If a person would sit in the wrong compartment, the state would fine them $25 or 20 days in jail.
In the late 19th century, people were intimidated to stand up and protect their individual rights. ("Info Please")
A group called the Citizens Committee wanted to test the constitutionality of the 1890 Louisiana Car Act. The Louisiana Car Act was a train where cars would be divided by race and allowed segregated “separate but equal” railroad accommodations. The Committee wanted to find a mixed race person who would actually sit in the white car on the train. They found Homer Plessy and thought he would be the perfect man for the job. (Robinson) Plessy was then arrested for violating the 1890 Louisiana statute, but he was released the next day. ("Plessy v. Ferguson – Case Brief Summary"). The Supreme Court stated that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not forbid the government's decision of segregation as long as accommodations were equal for both races. (Lewis)