Virginia SOL VS.8.e
The Standard
describing the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain that the ruling allowed racial segregation under the idea of “separate but equal.” They connect the ruling to Jim Crow laws and unequal treatment of Black Americans.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can identify the ruling as legal support for segregation. They can give examples, such as separate schools, train cars, water fountains, and other public facilities.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the ruling ended segregation or created equal facilities. They may also think it began slavery, rather than supporting segregation decades after slavery ended.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: “How did the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling affect Black Americans? Answer in two sentences and include the phrase ‘separate but equal.’”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs place event and effect cards on a timeline showing the court ruling, Jim Crow laws, and segregated public facilities.
Ask students to write: “Why did separate facilities fail to provide equal treatment?” Use one example from a photograph or short source.
Play a matching game connecting Jim Crow rules with effects, such as separate schools paired with unequal buildings, books, and funding.
Compare a historical photo of a segregated facility with a current public facility, then list two changes in who can use it.
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Related Standards
- CE.5.d
explaining the effects of Supreme Court cases affecting the judiciary, including, but not limited to Marbury v. Madison.
- VS.8.a
describing what the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution accomplished
- USII.5.h
describing racial segregation, housing discrimination via redlining, the rise of “Jim Crow” laws, Black Codes, and threats of violence including, but not limite...
- VS.11.a
explaining the social and political events connected to disenfranchisement of African American voters in Virginia in the early 20th century, desegregation, cour...
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