Plessy v. Ferguson - Analysis | Milestone Documents - Milestone Documents

Plessy v. Ferguson

( 1896 ) Commentary by Henry L. Chambers Jr., University of Richmond School of Law

Audience

Although the Plessy opinion was of particular use to Congress and the state legislatures that were beginning to impose the Jim Crow laws, the intended audience for the case was the country as a whole. Given that this was a decision of the Supreme Court, it is unclear that it should be taken as a call to action. Rather, it can be taken as an exposition on the meaning of the United States Constitution that might have the effect of emboldening state legislatures or cowing Congress but probably not as a case that was intended to have that effect.

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Plessy v. Ferguson (National Archives and Records Administration)

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