Civil Rights Quiz

What was the main issue challenged by Homer Plessy in the Plessy v. Ferguson case?

• The right to vote

• Segregation on public transportation

• The right to own property

• The right to education

What did the Supreme Court decide regarding Mississippi's segregation laws in 1890?

• It was unconstitutional to segregate on interstate transportation.

• Segregation on modes of interstate transportation was allowed.

• Segregation in public places was unconstitutional.

• All forms of segregation were unconstitutional.

According to the Fourteenth Amendment, what are all persons born or naturalized in the United States entitled to?

• Freedom of speech

• Right to bear arms

• Equal protection of the laws

• Right to public education

What does the Fourteenth Amendment prevent states from doing?

• Imposing taxes

• Depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

• Regulating interstate commerce

• Establishing a state religion

What fraction was used to describe Homer Plessy's racial background in the context of the "black codes" of Louisiana?

• 1/2 black

• 1/4 black

• 1/8 black

• 1/16 black

What was Ferguson's title?

• Plaintiff

• Defendant

• Judge

• Clerk

Did the United States Supreme Court affirm or overturn the decision of the Louisiana court?

• Affirm

• Overturn

• Remand

• Dismiss

What was the object of the Fourteenth Amendment according to the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson?

• To enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law

• To abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political, equality

• To allow the commingling of the two races upon terms satisfactory to either

• To imply the inferiority of either race to the other

What does the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson consider to be the underlying fallacy of Plessy's argument?

• The assumption that separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority

• The belief that social prejudices can be overcome by legislation

• The idea that equal rights cannot be secured to the negro except by an enforced commingling of the two races

• The notion that civil and political rights of both races being equal, one cannot be inferior to the other

According to the majority opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, what is required for the voluntary consent of individuals to result in the commingling of the two races?

• An enforced commingling by the state

• A mutual appreciation of each other's merits

• The eradication of racial instincts

• The abolition of distinctions based on physical differences