The continental congress was the government of 13 American colonies and later the US, it lasted from 1774 to 1789. The first congress met in 1774 in reaction to the coercive Acts imposed by the British government on the colonies. The second congress met after the American Revolutionary War(1775-83) had begun and declared America's independence from Britain and after five years the congress passed the first national constitution(Articles of Confederation) to govern the country. The second continental congress tried to prevent war with Great Britain by sending a message to King George and asked him to consider their problems and try to find a solution.
In the pivotal case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racially separate facilities, if equal, did not violate the Constitution. Segregation, the Court said, was not discrimination.
