primary source: plessy v ferguson, 1896

general background of the case

Homer A Plessy decided to challenge the law saying that railroads in the state had to "provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races"

main constitutional issue of case

jim crow laws violated the 14th amendment, african americans lived in a segregated society (13th)

how the supreme court decided the case

doesn't violate 14th amendment

creation of the separate but equal doctrine- what is it, how does it change america