✊🏿ap african american studies review

Plessy v. Ferguson

Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated August 2025
Verified for the 2027 exam
Verified for the 2027 examWritten by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated August 2025

Definition

An 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld a Louisiana law requiring segregated railroad passenger coaches and established the legal doctrine of 'separate but equal,' which became the constitutional basis for racial segregation across American society.

AP course connection

Topic 3.5: 3.5 Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow Laws

Unit 3