Voting Rights Act of 1965 (EOTO 2)

In 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the Selma March from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. This march was 54 miles long and the purpose of it was to grant voting rights to African Americans and make registering to vote easier for them. The Selma March was attempted twice before being successful. The first time protesters were attacked, the second time they were met by their attackers, and the third time the protesters were finally able to begin their march walking for four days and 12 hours per day. Shortly after the Selma march, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law on August 6, 1965. The act granted African Americans the right to vote, prohibited literacy test, and fought gerrymandering. The civil rights act of 1957 and 1960 both set the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.