Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyThe New South and Jim Crow

“We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff’s argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it.”

— Justice Henry Billings Brown, majority opinion in *Plessy v. Ferguson*, 1896

The legal reasoning expressed in this court decision was most directly used to justify which of the following practices in the late nineteenth-century South?

  1. The establishment of racially segregated public facilitiesAnswer
  2. B
    The federal protection of African American voting rights under military supervision
  3. C
    The creation of federal land-redistribution programs for formerly enslaved families
  4. D
    The organization of agricultural cooperatives by the Populist Party

Answer

The establishment of racially segregated public facilities
The correct option is correct because the 1896 *Plessy v. Ferguson* Supreme Court decision established the doctrine of 'separate but equal.' This ruling provided the constitutional justification for Southern states to pass Jim Crow laws that mandated racial segregation in public facilities, such as schools, hotels, and passenger trains.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the source of the stimulus text.
The text is from the majority opinion of the 1896 Supreme Court case *Plessy v. Ferguson*.
Knowing the context of *Plessy v. Ferguson* allows for direct association with the legal standard it established.
2
Analyze the core argument of the excerpt.
The court argues that legal separation of races does not imply racial inferiority unless Black Americans choose to interpret it that way.
This shows how the court justified segregation by denying that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
3
Determine the historical impact of the ruling.
By declaring that 'separate but equal' facilities were constitutional, the ruling legally validated and accelerated the spread of Jim Crow laws across the South.
This connects the legal justification in the text to the historical development of institutionalized segregation.

Key Concept

The legalization of segregation through the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling

Hints

1
Identify the Supreme Court case referenced in the source citation and its famous legal doctrine.
Estimated Time:45s
Rate this question

Topics

The New South and Jim Crow

More questions from this topic