The Civil Rights Movement was about the struggle for social justice for African Americans to gain individual equal rights. This movement took place during the 1950’s and the 1960’s, and has greatly impacted society throughout the years. Bus boycotts, sit ins, and marches inspired thousands to join the movement. Due to overwhelming pressure from the events in this movement, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. However, many still discriminated against African Americans.
One of the most historic examples of discrimination against African Americans took place not long after the Civil Rights Act was passed. Multiple fatalities inspired one of the
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These 600 individuals included the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee president and activists from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. While Martin Luther King Jr. was unable to attend the march, he did extend his permission for the crowd to march in his absence. The crowd marched in demonstration for African American voting rights and to commemorate Jimmie Lee Jackson's death. Once the marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were attacked by armed forces with tear gas and billy clubs. The armed forces included Alabama State Troopers, Dallas County Sheriff’s deputies, and a horse-mounted posse. The governor had forbidden the march and declared that they had two minutes to turn back around. When the marchers refused to turn back and continued forward, the governor ordered the troops to advance. The troopers used about 40 canisters of tear gas, 12 cans of smoke, and 8 cans of nausea gas against the marchers. They pursued the running marchers back to the Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama. Many participants were beaten and had to be hospitalized, which is how the event earned the name “Bloody