Directions:Readtheinformationineachsectionoftheleftcolumnbeforeansweringquestionsorfollowingdirectionsintheright.Page:_________ Introduction 1.Underlinethefirstsentenceofeach paragraph,thisisthetopicsentence.

In 1890, Louisiana passed a law that said that Blacks and Whites have to be segregated while riding a train within the state. This would work by separating blacks in one car and 2.Whatdoesitmeantosegregate? whites in another. The problem was that the black cars weren't as good quality or as clean as ______________________________________ the cars for whites. There were also punishments to make sure the black and white passengers remained separate. For example, if you were a black and you sat in the white car ______________________________________ you would either have a fine of $25 or 20 days in jail. ______________________________________

The Court Case Begins: Plessy v Ferguson

In 1892, a 30-year old shoemaker named Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a car for only white people on the East Louisiana Railroad. He had refused to move to a black car. Even though he was seven-eighths white and only one-eighth black, he was put in jail. The Louisiana law stated that if you had any black ancestors, you were considered black. Because of this, Plessy was required to sit in the "colored" or "black" car. In court, Plessy argued that the segregation law violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment made slavery illegal in the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment states that all persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state where they live. It also says that no state can deny citizens of the United States equal protection of the laws. This meant that you could have separate cars if they were equally nice but most of the time they werent. Plessy argued that the Louisiana law violated these amendments because on the train the white cars were nicer and cleaner than the black cars. Judge Ferguson ruled that Plessy was guilty and this was Plessys first loss in court. Supreme Court After going to the Louisiana State Supreme Court and losing again Mr. Plessy took his case to the Supreme Court of the United States because he was convinced that the

3.WhywasHomerPlessyarrested? ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ 4.Reviewfillintheblank 13thAmendmentbanned_______inthe UnitedStates 14thAmendmentallpeoplebornintheUnited statesareautomatically_____________. 5.Anothernameforthesegregationlawwas ___________but___________.Thissaid youcouldhaveseparatefacilitiesforblacks

segregation law was wrong. Homer Plessy thought that the "separate but equal" law violated andwhitesaslongastheywereequal. 6.Plessytookhiscasetocourtthreetimes the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, because blacks and whites were not being and___________everysingletime.Thecourts treated equally. In 1896, Homer Plessy lost his court case again (3rd time) because the U.S. saidthatthesegregationlawsdidnotviolate Supreme Court said that the Louisiana law did not violate the Thirteenth and Fourteenth the_______thand______th_____________. Amendments. They claimed that Plessy wasn't forced to be a slave and he wasn't being treated unequally, just separately. Impact of the case Even though Plessy did not win his case and was put in jail, the impact of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case was huge. The Plessy decision by the Supreme Court of the United States made people believe that it was right to segregate restaurants, water fountains, theaters, restrooms, and public schools, as long as the separate facilities were equal. However, the separate facilities were hardly ever equal. For example, in restaurants and busses blacks would have to sit in the back, making it harder to get on and off. In theaters blacks would have to sit in the back again. Restrooms were a little different. Blacks and whites would have totally different bathrooms, except the white restrooms were cleaner and nicer. Besides having to sit somewhere different than whites, blacks were treated unequally by people as well. White waiters and waitresses would often wait on black customers last. Or when the waiters or waitresses would get there, they'd serve the blacks cold food. This was only the beginning of how blacks would be treated for most of the next century. Just like the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws were designed to limit the freedoms of African Americans by requiring them to be socially and physically isolated from white Americans. In many places these new Jim Crow laws also kept African Americans from voting. The Plessy v. Ferguson case is one of the biggest and most important examples of Jim Crow because the laws they make at the Supreme Court in Washington DC apply to the entire country, meaning now segregation was legal everywhere in the United States. 7.Listthreepublicplacesthatwere segregated: a.__________________________ b.__________________________ c.__________________________ 8.TrueorFalse:Childrenofdifferentraces attendedschooltogether.______________ 9.Whatwasunequalaboutrestroomsfor whitesandblacks? ______________________________________ ______________________________________ 10.Review: The_____thAmendmentguaranteesallmen therighttovoteregardlessofrace. 11.WhatwasthepurposeofJimCrowlaws? ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________