II. During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. After his assassination, Andrew Johnson went on to restore slavery. In 1868, the 13th and 14th amendments were established. The 13th amendment abolished slavery and the 14th amendment guaranteed blacks’ their rights. All this led to segregation. In 1937, Margaret Williams, a fourteen year old African American, was denied enrollment at Catonsville High School for two years. She had a suit filed on her behalf. The principal, David W. Zimmerman, said that it was not because of her race but because she failed uniform examinations. The case was dismissed and lost on repeal. She graduated from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. She traveled a couple hours each day just to attend school. After she graduated, she went on to attend a nursing school and she worked Glenn L. Martin Factory during World War II.
III. Jim Crow laws were established in 1877. They enforced public racial
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The Plessy v. Ferguson case is another example of segregation. In 1892, a black shoemaker named Homer Plessy was jailed for riding in a “white” car in Louisiana. Plessy was considered a Creole of Color because his ancestors traced back to French, Spanish, and Caribbean settlers of Louisiana. The case arose from resentment among black and Creole residents of Louisiana. He went up against the state of Louisiana saying that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th amendments. The judge for this case was John Howard Ferguson. He found Plessy guilty for refusing to leave the white car. Plessy then appealed to the Supreme Court. They to found him guilty. The Plessy decision set that “separate” facilities for blacks were constitutional as long as they were “equal”. The decision of this case provided constitutional sanction until overruled by the Brown v. Board of Education case. This case introduced the “Separate but Equal” Act. The Plessy v. Ferguson case legalized segregation in public accommodations, education, and