Basic Summary
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/307/
The Plessy v. Ferguson case created the idea that segregation is legal since it is possible to be "separate but equal."
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/33.htm
Amendments
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am13
Description
http://www.usconstitution.net/constamnotes.html#Am13
After the Civil War, many Southern states created black codes to limit the newly gained rights (13 th , 14 th , and 15 th Amendments) for blacks. The Plessy v. Ferguson case furthered this movement by legalizing segregation on the basis that separate facilities for blacks and whites satsfied the Fourteenth Amendment as long as the facilities were equal. Although most facilities were not actually equal, considering the sanitation, size, and quality of these facilities, this court case was not overturned until the Brown v. Board of Education case.