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Primary sourceDocument18 May 1896

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court of the United States · 18 May 1896

The 1896 Supreme Court ruling that upheld racial segregation under 'separate but equal,' shaping the segregated America of Tubman's final decades.

This ruling defined the legal segregation within which Washington's accommodationist strategy operated.

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Handwritten Supreme Court of the United States record, No. 210, October Term 1895, Homer Adolph Plessy, plaintiff in error, versus J. H. Ferguson, Judge of Section A Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans. Text states the judgment is affirmed with costs, signed Mr. Justice Brown, dated May 18, 1896, with a dissent noted by Mr. Justice Harlan.
Supreme Court of the United States, Judgment in Plessy v. Ferguson, 18 May 1896. National Archives, Record Group 267.

About this source

What it is

This is the handwritten judgment record of the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson, decided May 18, 1896. It is held by the U.S. National Archives among the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The case began when Homer Plessy, challenging a Louisiana law, sat in a railway car reserved for white passengers. Justice Henry Brown wrote the majority opinion upholding the law; Justice Harlan dissented.

Why it matters

The ruling legalized state segregation laws across the South for decades, under the doctrine of 'equal but separate accommodations.' It reveals how courts and lawmakers reversed the political gains Black Americans had won during Reconstruction.

Harriet Tubman lived through this era, founding a home for elderly African Americans while segregation hardened around her.

Look closer

  • Why did the Citizens' Committee choose a train car to challenge the law?
  • What does Justice Harlan's dissent suggest about disagreement within the Court?
  • What does this document leave out about the daily effects of Jim Crow laws?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Booker T. Washington on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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