Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., a significant march commenced from Selma to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama. To ensure the marchers’ safety, federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and FBI agents were present, especially since the march had previously been halted twice by state police at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. On March 21, U.S. Army troops and federalized Alabama National Guardsmen guided the marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and along Highway 80. As the highway narrowed to two lanes, only 300 marchers were allowed to proceed, but as the Alabama Freedom March reached Montgomery on March 25, thousands more joined in.
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