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Plessy V. Ferguson Case Analysis

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Before the Union victory in 1865, Congress assembled for the challenges the United States would face at the war’s end, particularly the integration of four million emancipated African Americans into the country. The Congressional Reconstruction period generated the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments into the United States Constitution. These amendments extended legal and civil protections to former slaves. These three amendments were foundation of the civil rights movement; because it gave new constitutional protections to African Americans, though the struggle to fully achieve equality would continue into the future, it led the civil rights movement on to the right path.
The Thirteenth amendment¹ was formed in 1865, it stated …show more content…

The primary goals of the movement were to end segregation across America, desegregate schools and other public facilities, reverse to notion “separate but equal”, and achieve overall equality. Shortly after the Fourteenth amendment was passed, America erupted with opinions due to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Plessy v. Ferguson was a U.S. Supreme Court case that supported the right for states to pass laws allowing racial segregation in public and private institutions such as schools, public transportation, restrooms, etc. The Plessy v. Ferguson case was important in the course of United States history, because its outcome upheld the belief that racial segregation was legal under the "separate but equal" doctrine. The Court held segregation as legal under the Fourteenth Amendment, Equal Protection Clause. The clause explained that "no state shall... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."(Equal Protection Clause 1868) The decision validated the action of segregation and the proliferation of the Jim Crow laws. This was a major part of what the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's & 60's hoped to terminate. Ultimately, Plessy v. Ferguson, (1896) was rescinded by Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483

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