The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches, held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery.

The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote, in defiance of segregationist repression; they were part of a broader voting rights movement underway in Selma and throughout the American South.

By highlighting racial injustice, they contributed to passage that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark federal achievement of the civil rights movement.

Causes

• Murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson
• African Americans obstructed from registering to vote
• Failed voter registration campaign

Results

• Speech "The American Promise" delivered by Lyndon B. Johnson as Special Message before Congress
• Introduction of Senate bill 1964, a voting rights bill, in the 89th United States Congress
• Hastened passage of voting rights bill in Congress
• Speech "How Long? Not Long" delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. at the Alabama State Capitol