USA HISTORY

PROTESTS ACTIVISM AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1954 1973

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT DURING THE 1950S

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which statement BEST describes the relationship between Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education?
A
Both cases addressed the need for due process of law.
B
Both cases allowed popular sovereignty to decide integration.
C
The Brown decision overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine of the Plessy decision.
D
The Brown case expanded legal segregation established in the Plessy case.
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The Brown decision was a landmark because it overturned the legal policies established by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision that legalized the practices of “separate but equal”. In the Plessy decision, the 14th Amendment was interpreted in such a way that equality in the law could be met through segregated facilities.

Detailed explanation-2: -Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that separate accommodations based on race was constitutional. 58 years later in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka (1954) the court ruled that separate accommodations based on race were inherently unequal and so unconstitutional.

Detailed explanation-4: -Ferguson decision upheld the principle of racial segregation over the next half-century. The ruling provided legal justification for segregation on trains and buses, and in public facilities such as hotels, theaters, and schools. The impact of Plessy was to relegate African Americans to second-class citizenship.

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