March on Washington 1963

• March on Washington

  • March was masterminded by Black-Amercian trade union leader A.Philip Randoph who sought to encourage the federal government to increase black economic opportunities. Organisations like the NAACP, the SNCC and the SCLC hoped a well-attended march would gain publicity and encouraged congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill
  • Some black Americans were alienated by the slow GOV progress towards equality & were instead turning to violence
• The emotional impact of the March on Washington was great as the Civil Rights Movement presented itself as strong and united and the behaviour of 250,000 marchers was impeccable.
• 'I Have a Dream'

  • The series of speakers standing before the Lincoln Memorial in the capital reminded the nation of the Civil Rights Movement’s domination of the moral high ground
  • As King pointed out in his ‘I have a dream’ speech, speakers and the marchers were calling upon Americans to live up to the ideas of freedom, equality and justice enshrined in their beloved Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
• Many believe that the emotional impact of the speech and the march contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.