Which event is known as Bloody Sunday and what did it prompt?

• A. The Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56; it led to desegregation of public buses.
• B. The 1965 Selma march on Edmund Pettus Bridge; it prompted national outrage and helped spur the Voting Rights Act.
• C. The March on Washington in 1963; it prompted the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• D. The Watts Riots of 1965; it led to federal housing reforms.

Answer: (B)

Bloody Sunday refers to the violent clash on March 7, 1965, when peaceful civil rights marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama were attacked by state troopers. The brutal images and widespread coverage sparked national outrage and drew enormous sympathy for the voting rights cause. This powerful reaction helped propel the push for federal voting protections, culminating in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

That connection to Selma and the voting rights passage is why this option is the best match. The other events listed are pivotal in their own right—Montgomery’s bus boycott led to desegregation of public buses, the 1963 March on Washington helped push the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Watts Riots highlighted urban racial tensions—but they are not the event known as Bloody Sunday or its direct prompt to voting rights legislation.