Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1896. It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".[2] This legitimized the state laws re-establishing racial segregation that were passed in the American South in the late 19th century after the end of the Reconstruction Era. The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1, with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the lone dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan.
Segregation laws grew in strength immeasurably. This is because the case of Plessy v Ferguson established that the doctrine of separate but equal was constitutional and thus made it possible for the government to legally segregate African-Americans by making them separate but "equal". This case lasted for 50 years and more until the civil rights movement managed to win and abolish the doctrine.
