The 1965 March Setting refers to the Selma to Montgomery marches, which were a series of three civil rights marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. The marches began on March 7, 1965, when 600 civil rights activists marched from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. The marches were organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in order to draw attention to the struggle for voting rights for African Americans in the South. The marches were met with violence from local police and white supremacists, but ultimately resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.