Plessy v. Ferguson : The Trial

This past week in class we had a mock trial of the Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy was an African American male who was only an eighth black. He had fair skin because of this. He bought a first-class train ticket and boarded the train in Louisiana, a state where there is a law mandating that there be segregated train cars. Mr. Plessy was arrested because he violated the law in that state. The question to be answered by the Court was does a state law requiring the segregation of train cars violate one's 14th amendment rights?

Both sides of the argument made very valid points. They brought in religious examples, historical examples, and legal examples such as past precedents set in place and certain laws. The Court's final decision is that a state law requiring the segregation of train cars does not violate one's 14th amendment rights. This started the concept of "separate but equal".