What was the Children's March? What impact did it have on the Civil Rights Movement? How did authorities respond to this march by children?

The
Children's March was an African-American youth protest against segregation; it occurred during
the first week of May in 1963 and began on May 2.

Many of the participating
youth were still prepubescent children; however, they were supportive of the Civil Rights
Movement and were determined to do their part for equality. The youth were trained in
non-violent tactics by leaders in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The
Reverend James Bevel was the brainchild behind the Children's March, and he was able to
galvanize more than 3,000 youth to participate in the march for freedom.

The
youth were met by throngs of police with attack dogs and fire hoses. Many of the children were
sprayed from powerful hoses and beaten by police wielding batons. Many more were arrested for
their part in the demonstrations. On May 5th, the youth marched to the Birmingham jail to make
their stand; they sang freedom songs and prayed. Many of their peers who were already in jail
rallied at the massive support they received. The Children's March was actually an important
component of the Birmingham Campaign, and it marked a turning point in the Civil Rights
Movement.

The Birmingham campaign consisted of lunch-counter protests at
public facilities and boycotts of Birmingham merchants. However, it was the persecution against
courageous youth demonstrators that helped turn the tide of public opinion against segregation.
In the end, city officials agreed to meet with civil rights leaders. In concert with the
Birmingham campaign, the Children's March led to desegregation at public facilities in the city
and the release of all demonstrators from prison.

In all, the Children's
March was instrumental in garnering public support for integration in schools and public
facilities throughout the South. That public support led to the href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act">Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and the href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/voting-rights-act">Voting Rights
Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act banned all segregation and discrimination on the
basis of race, religion, or national origin, and the Voting Rights Act prohibited discriminatory
literacy tests that disenfranchised African-American voters.

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