Plessy v. Ferguson

For high school students, undergraduates, and general readers, Davis, a historian and lawyer who teaches US constitutional and legal history at Arizona State U., Tempe, explores the origins, contents, and contexts of the Plessy v. Ferguson case and its contemporary and historical background. He provides a chronology of the cultural and political events significant to understanding the people and positions involved in the case's development, then details the events leading to Homer Plessy's arrest and trial on charges of violating Louisiana's segregationist 1890 Separate Car Act by sitting in a train car for whites only. He examines Louisiana's racial makeup and the increased racial divide slavery imposed, the controversy over racial discrimination over many decades, the struggle surrounding what Louisiana law should be and who should make it, developing constitutional issues of the authority of the state, and legal developments that produced the Separate Car Act and the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Included are six brief biographies of key figures, primary documents, and an annotated bibliography. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Thomas J. Davis, PhD, JD, is professor of history at Arizona State University.