Would you risk your life to be able to vote?
In the early 1960s, many Black Americans were doing just that. Although the U.S. Constitution guaranteed them the right to vote, White officials in much of the South prevented them from casting ballots. Local and state leaders used methods such as literacy tests and fees called poll taxes to discourage Black voters. In many places, Black people who tried to register to vote could be fired from their jobs or even killed.
That was especially true in Selma, Alabama. In Dallas County, where the city is located, only about 2 percent of eligible Black residents were registered to cast ballots.
To draw attention to the voting struggles in Selma and throughout the South, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. decided to stage a protest there. The plan was to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, 54 miles away. Once there, the protesters would demand that Alabama Governor George Wallace end voter discrimination.
A young activist named John Lewis helped lead the march. With Lewis in front, the group of about 600 people—mostly Black Americans—set off from Selma on March 7, 1965. Their route took them across the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the edge of the city. A mass of White state troopers was waiting at the other end. The troopers had orders from Wallace not to let the marchers get any farther. They charged at the peaceful protesters, attacking them with clubs, whips, and tear gas.
The day became known as Bloody Sunday. No one was killed, but about 100 of the marchers were taken to the hospital—including Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture. The violence was broadcast on the national news, outraging Americans across the country.