What did the Selma march accomplish?
As many as 25,000 people participated in the roughly 50-mile (80-km) march. Together, these events became a landmark in the American civil rights movement and directly led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
What happened on Bloody Sunday Selma?
Seventeen people were hospitalized and dozens more injured by police, including Lewis, who suffered a fractured skull. Clouds of tear gas fill the air as state troopers break up a demonstration march in Selma, Ala., March 7, 1965, on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Was anyone killed in the Selma march?
On February 18, 1965, while unarmed and participating in a peaceful voting rights march in his city, he was beaten by troopers and fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper….Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson.
Jimmie Lee Jackson | |
---|---|
Died | February 26, 1965 (aged 26) Selma, Alabama, U.S. |
Cause of death | Gunshot |
Occupation | Farmer |
What happened to the Selma marchers?
State troopers and county possemen attacked the unarmed marchers with billy clubs and tear gas after they passed over the county line, and the event became known as Bloody Sunday. Law enforcement beat Boynton unconscious, and the media publicized worldwide a picture of her lying wounded on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
How did Selma lead to government action?
On March 17, 1965, even as the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers fought for the right to carry out their protest, President Lyndon Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, calling for federal voting rights legislation to protect African Americans from barriers that prevented them from voting.
Why did the marchers turn around the second time?
Why did marchers turn around the second time they gathered at Edmund Pettus Bridge? There was a federal court order to stop the march and MLK didn’t want to violate the order. What was the significance of the barricade around George Washington Carver Homes?