| By 1965 concerted efforts to break the grip of state | | | | Montgomery, persuaded the President and Congress |
| disfranchisement had been under way for some time, | | | | to overcome Southern legislators' resistance to |
| but had achieved only modest success overall and in | | | | allowing the African American vote.President Johnson |
| some areas had achieved no success at all.The | | | | issued a call for a strong voting rights law and hearings |
| murder of voting-rights activists in Philadelphia, | | | | began soon thereafter on the bill that would become |
| Mississippi, gained national attention, along with | | | | the Voting Rights Act. On the dawn of its 40th |
| numerous other acts of violence and terrorism.Finally, | | | | Anniversary, Congress is preparing for the |
| the unprovoked attack on March 7, 1965, by state | | | | reauthorization |
| troopers on peaceful marchers crossing the Edmund | | | | of key provisions in the Voting Rights Act that will |
| Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on their way to | | | | expire in 2007. |