Freedom Riders Research Paper

The KKK tormented and killed people who voice opinions that were against them, but that only help push the Civil Rights Movement.

The KKK tormented the freedom riders but that only backfired when more people began to support the freedom riders.
During the Anniston, Alabama trip some Freedom Riders were attacked by the KKK. The racist thugs smashed windows, slashed tires and threatened the Riders before local police escorted the bus out of town.They were forced to pull over because a long line of cars and trucks followed them six miles out of town. The mob began attacking again, this time they throw firebomb through the broken windows of the bus. Luckily the Riders escaped but many suffered smoke inhalation. One Rider, Hank Thomas, after stumbling …show more content…
led a service at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, more than one thousand supporters of the Freedom Riders attended. King had to call Robert Kennedy for protection against a riot that began outside the church. The federal marshals were sent and they used teargas on the white mob. Patterson declared martial law which is military government involving the suspension of ordinary law. They were called to the city and dispatched the National Guard to restore order. The violence and arrests continued to attract national and international attention, which drew hundreds of new Freedom Riders to the cause. The Riders continue over the next several months, putting pressure on the Kennedy administration. Which led the Interstate Commerce Commission to issue regulations prohibiting segregation in interstate transit …show more content…
In September 15, 1963, at 16th Street Church in Birmingham, Alabama Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley were killed in a bomb explosion. The girls were getting ready for church services when a bomb exploded, killing all four of the school-age girls. The church was attacked upon because it had been a center for civil rights meeting and marches. Later at the funeral for the girls Martin Luther King Jr. gives a speech to the attending people and at the end to the parents of the children. “And so today, you do not walk alone. You gave to this world wonderful children. They didn't live long lives, but they lived meaningful lives. Their lives were distressingly small in quantity, but glowingly large in quality. And no greater tribute can be paid to you as parents, and no greater epitaph can come to them as children, than where they died and what they were doing when they died.They did not die in the dives and dens of Birmingham , nor did they die discussing and listening to filthy jokes. They died between the sacred walls of the church of God, and they were discussing the eternal meaning of love. This stands out as a beautiful, beautiful thing for all generations.Shakespeare had Horatio to say some beautiful words as he stood over the dead body of Hamlet. And today, as I stand over the remains of these beautiful, darling girls, I paraphrase the

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