This Day in History: Selma <br />to Montgomery March Begins March 21, 1965 Led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., <br />between 3,000 and 8,000 marchers crossed the <br />Edmund Pettus Bridge out of Selma to make the <br />50 mile trek to the Alabama state capital in Montgomery. Over the next five days, they made <br />their way protected by thousands of federalized <br />Alabama National Guardsmen and soldiers, and <br />their number would swell to around 25,000. At the state capital, King <br />would give his famous <br />"How Long, Not Long" speech. The march came just days <br />after the passage of the civil rights <br />legislation known as the Voting Rights Act. The passage of the legislation followed <br />two unsuccessful attempts at the march, <br />which ended in violence between <br />police and the peaceful protestors. President Lyndon Johnson cited the violence, <br />which had been broadcast on national television, <br />as a turning point in American history. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., March 25, 1965
