Question

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) illustrate how the same Constitutional issue of __________ was interpreted differently over time. 

Answer 1

The same Constitutional issue of separate but equal was interpreted differently over time.

Answer 2

This question is incomplete. Here´s the complete question.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) illustrate how the same Constitutional issue of __________ was interpreted differently over time.

A.

slavery

B.

state sovereignty

C.

separate but equal

D.

separation of church and state

Answer: C.  separate but equal

Explanation:

In Plessy v. Ferguson the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the constitutionality of racial segregation following the separate but equal principle, after Homer Plessy, an African American refused to sit in the train car destined for black people. Consequently, the discriminatory Jim Crow legislation and separate public places became stronger.

The Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruled that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.