The March on Washington and "I Have a Dream"

On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom — the largest political demonstration in American history at that time. The march culminated in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, in which he articulated his vision of racial equality with soaring rhetoric: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." The speech, broadcast live on national television, galvanized public support for civil rights legislation. Less than a year later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Voting Rights Act followed in 1965. King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39 — but the movement he led had permanently transformed American law and society.