Everyone in a democratic legislature should have the right to vote as is stated in the constitution yet not so long ago a very simple right to provide was not given. “Our Union is not yet perfect but we are getting closer”(President Barack Obama). All it took was one death in a small town in Alabama to completely spark the tinder for the voting rights act to be passed. “The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘we’”(President Barack Obama). This was a truly inspiring event plainly because thousands gathered both black and white for a long march (50 miles) and truly believed african americans should have the right to vote. “There was never a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage
…show more content…
On February 18, 1965 Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot trying to protect his mother during a march in which the police violently beat and used tear gas on the crowd this sparked nationwide anger. Martin Luther King Jr. called people to selma to peacefully march to montgomery in protest of this killing and the violence caused on “Bloody Sunday”. In spite of short notice on March 9th Martin Luther King Jr. led 2,000 marchers across The Edmund Pettus Bridge peacefully to the spot where Jimmie was killed and said a prayer and left without incident. They planned to march to Montgomery later that week but Federal District court judge Frank M. Johnson notified movement attorney …show more content…
Although it did not immediately have a great change later that year the voting rights act was passed. “Montgomery led to the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960; Birmingham inspired the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and Selma produced the voting rights legislation of 1965.”(Martin Luther King) The voting rights act did a lot more than just allowing everyone to vote who was a United States Citizen. There were three marches in 1965. They grew out of the voting rights movement. The marches shifted national opinion about the Civil Rights movement. Nationwide news covered the marches and people saw the violence and brutality used against marchers by local law enforcement. When the Freedom Riders were beaten and their bus was burned, there was no one there to film it. People reacted to what they saw on the news. They even reacted in Washington. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson introduced a bill into Congress that later passed as the Voting Rights
On February 18, 1965 Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot trying to protect his mother during a march in which the police violently beat and used tear gas on the crowd this sparked nationwide anger. Martin Luther King Jr. called people to selma to peacefully march to montgomery in protest of this killing and the violence caused on “Bloody Sunday”. In spite of short notice on March 9th Martin Luther King Jr. led 2,000 marchers across The Edmund Pettus Bridge peacefully to the spot where Jimmie was killed and said a prayer and left without incident. They planned to march to Montgomery later that week but Federal District court judge Frank M. Johnson notified movement attorney …show more content…
Although it did not immediately have a great change later that year the voting rights act was passed. “Montgomery led to the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960; Birmingham inspired the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and Selma produced the voting rights legislation of 1965.”(Martin Luther King) The voting rights act did a lot more than just allowing everyone to vote who was a United States Citizen. There were three marches in 1965. They grew out of the voting rights movement. The marches shifted national opinion about the Civil Rights movement. Nationwide news covered the marches and people saw the violence and brutality used against marchers by local law enforcement. When the Freedom Riders were beaten and their bus was burned, there was no one there to film it. People reacted to what they saw on the news. They even reacted in Washington. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson introduced a bill into Congress that later passed as the Voting Rights