Library of Congress Out of Order! Read the
introduction about the case
of Plessy v. Ferguson and put
the remaining facts in the
correct order.
Louisiana passes the Separate Car Act that makes
railroad companies provide separate (but equal)
cars for black and white passengers in 1890.
A group of black citizens joined with the East
Louisiana Railroad Company to fight the Act.
(The citizens wanted rights and the RR company
wanted to save money by using fewer cars.) Homer
Plessy was chosen to break the law so it could be
challenged in court.
Place the rest of the story in the correct order:
Plessy appealed the decision and lost again, but
took the case to the Supreme Court in 1896.
Homer Plessy bought a first class train ticket
and sat down in the whites only' section of
the train.
The Supreme Court upheld the previous
decisions and said that racial segregation was
constitutional if accommodations were equal.
This led to more and more legal segregation all
over the U. S.
Plessy was arrested for riding in a 'whites only
railroad car, because he was 1/8th black.
Plessy argued that the Act violated his 13th &
14th Amendment rights, but he lost in the
local court.