Plessy v. Ferguson: The Legal Origins of Segregation

Lesson Plan

Day 1 

Activity 1: Journal Reflection on Rules and Inclusion/Exclusion

Tell students that in the first part of this unit, they focused on identity, race, and racism, and in this section they will build on that knowledge to focus on racial segregation in the United States—its legal origins, the ways it impacted Black Americans, and how it was challenged in the courts. 

In this lesson, students will explore the legal origins of segregation by analyzing the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. Prepare students for this exploration by getting them thinking about how laws and the legal system can exclude people in society. 

Draw this connection by asking students to reflect on how rules—“micro” versions of laws that students experience in their day-to-day lives—can shape experiences of inclusion or exclusion. 

Ask students to respond to the following prompt in their journals: 

• Think of a time when a rule (at school, at home, for a sport, etc.) felt unfair or unequal. What made the rule feel unfair to you? How did you respond?

Ask volunteers to share their journal responses with the class. Then transition from the opening journal prompt by explaining to students that laws are similar to rules. Remind students of one of the characteristics of a strong democracy that they explored in Lesson 1: “Laws are fair and enforced equally in the legal system.” Explain that in this two-day lesson, they will explore how the Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson undermined this characteristic and the effect the ruling had on individuals and democracy. 

Activity 2: Understanding the Fourteenth Amendment

In this activity, students analyze the Fourteenth Amendment. Exploring the meaning of this amendment will help students understand that legalized racial segregation in the United States was not inevitable and in fact violated the amendment’s promise of equal citizenship for Black Americans.

Before students read an excerpt from the Fourteenth Amendment, share with them the following background information: 

• During Reconstruction, the period after the American Civil War, the nation faced numerous questions related to the rights of the 4 million newly emancipated enslaved people in the South: Would freedpeople become citizens or not? Would white Southerners accept them as equals? What rights would they have? How would these rights be protected? 
• Congress ratified three new amendments to the US Constitution: the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, known as the “Reconstruction amendments.” The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, and the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote for male citizens. (Women would eventually gain the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.)  
• The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted citizenship to newly freed slaves. This included equal protection under the law (meaning that states could no longer discriminate against Black people).

Next, pass out the reading The Fourteenth Amendment (Excerpt) and explain to students they will conduct a close reading of this amendment.  

Read the text aloud and ask students to circle unfamiliar words as they listen. After the read-aloud, ask students to share these words with the class. Then use your discretion to decide which words you will define beforehand for students and which definitions you want them to uncover through careful reading. (Note that we’ve bolded some academic vocabulary in the handout and included synonyms.)

Then explain to students that they will engage in a close reading by annotating the text using the following key:

• Write an exclamation mark (!) in the margin alongside information that surprises you.
• Write a question mark (?) in the margin alongside places in the text in which the author assumes you know or understand something that you don’t.
• Write a “C” in the margin alongside information that challenges your thinking.
• Write an “I” next to words or phrases that strike you as particularly important for understanding the meaning of the amendment. 

When students have finished reading and annotating, have them share their annotations with a partner and discuss any questions they have about the text. Then instruct pairs to explore the significance of Fourteenth Amendment using the following discussion questions:  

1. What stands out to you about this amendment? What words or phrases strike you as particularly important? 
2. How do you imagine that the passage of this amendment impacted African Americans who were formerly enslaved? 

After students have discussed the questions above, share with them that the final sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment is known as the “equal protection clause,” a guarantee that each state “must treat an individual or class of individuals the same as it treats other individuals or classes in like circumstances,” ¹ and it was written to stop states from discriminating against and denying the rights of African Americans who were formerly enslaved. ²

Then pose the following questions for students to discuss in pairs: 

1. What can happen when laws are applied unequally?
2. Why is it important that laws apply to everyone equally in a democracy? 

Once conversations have ended, bring the class together as a whole group and ask volunteers to share highlights from their conversations.

Activity 3: Reflect on the Fourteenth Amendment

Share with students the following quote from historian Eric Foner: 

“The Fourteenth Amendment was a crucial step in transforming . . . a government ‘for white men’ into one ‘for mankind.’” ³ —Eric Foner, historian

Use the following prompt to lead a class discussion about the quote: 

• How did the Fourteenth Amendment begin to change the United States from a government “for white men” into one for mankind? 

Ask students to use their class notes and materials to discuss the quote. Then have them respond to the question in three to five sentences on an exit ticket. To open the following lesson, you will share students’ responses from these exit tickets. (See Teaching Note 1: Reviewing Students’ Day 1 Exit Tickets for additional guidance.)

Day 2 

Activity 1: Discuss Exit Tickets on the Impact of the Fourteenth Amendment

Take a few minutes at the start of class to share from some of the exit tickets. We recommend that you keep students’ responses anonymous unless they have given you permission in advance of the lesson to share their ideas.

Activity 2: Analyze the Plessy v. Ferguson Decision

Next, students will learn about the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson and read an overview of the arguments of the majority and dissenting opinions. In particular, students will explore how the Plessy decision rejected the democratic principles of the Fourteenth Amendment and opened the door for states to create laws that discriminated against Black citizens. 

Explain to students they will now learn about the Supreme Court decision that permitted Southern states to establish widespread segregation. Distribute the reading Plessy v. Ferguson: The "Separate but Equal" Doctrine and instruct students to work in pairs to read and answer the reflection questions at the end of the reading.

Once students have finished reading and completing their reflection questions, ask volunteers to share their responses with the class. 

Activity 3: Explore the Impact of Discriminatory Laws  

Now that students have learned about the details of the Plessy v. Ferguson case, provide them with the opportunity to discuss the impact this decision had on democracy. Share with students that there was one Supreme Court justice who disagreed with the decision. In his dissent to the majority opinion, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote: 

The … separation of citizens [by] race … [creates] a badge of inferiority … inconsistent with [the principle of] equality before the law established by the constitution. 

Pass out the handout Say, Mean, Matter: Justice Harlan’s Dissent. Walk students through the first two sections of the handout by rereading the quote together as a class. Then, as a class, discuss the meaning of the quote and walk students through paraphrasing it in their own words on the handout (“Mean”).

Finally, in the “Matter” section of the handout, instruct partners to discuss how the ideas in the quote relate to 1) the experiences of African Americans during this period and 2) the strength of democracy in the United States. In response to the second question, encourage students to draw on the “ladders” they made in Lesson 1 listing the three most important characteristics of a strong democracy.  

Regroup as a class and ask volunteers to share what they recorded in the “Matter” section of the handout. 

Close by discussing the following question as a class: 

• What are the consequences when governments use laws and the legal system to discriminate against and exclude an entire group of people? 

In their discussion, the class should think about consequences for one or more of the following: 

• Individuals
• Attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors 
• Democracy

• 1Merriam-Webster Dictionary online, “equal protection,” accessed October 9, 2024.
• 2Brian T. Fitzpatrick and Theodore M. Shaw, “Interpretation & Debate: The Equal Protection Clause,” National Constitution Center, accessed October 9, 2024.
• 3 Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019), 34.