The Voting Rights Act of 1965
How Selma's Bloody Sunday led to the most effective civil rights legislation in American history — and its ongoing erosion.
Bloody Sunday
Despite the 15th Amendment (1870) and the Civil Rights Act (1964), Black voter registration in the Deep South remained extremely low. In Selma, Alabama, only 2% of eligible Black citizens were registered. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and SNCC launched a voter registration campaign there in early 1965.
On March 7, 1965 — 'Bloody Sunday' — roughly 600 marchers attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery were attacked by state troopers and county posse members on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Troopers used tear gas, clubs, and mounted horseback charges against nonviolent marchers. The violence was broadcast on national television, interrupting regular programming.
The images shocked the nation. Protests erupted in 80 cities. President Johnson addressed Congress on March 15, declaring 'We shall overcome' — adopting the movement's anthem as the government's own.
