may 2, 1963 - Birmingham Peace
Marches: Young People's
Non-Violent Protest
Description:
The SNCC began training younger people in non-violent protest
On 2nd May 1963, the first large children’s march took place - although most of the marchers were teenagers, some were as young as 6 years old
Some people were shocked that children were being used as protestors; they became even more shocked by how they were treated - by the end of the day around 1,000 children had been arrested
On 3 May, more children marched - this time partly because the Birmingham jails were full, the police changed tactics
Chief Connor ordered dogs to be set on the protestors - he then called in the fire department to use powerful hoses on them
Connor’s actions meant that the civil rights groups got the publicity they wanted: television footage and photographs of young people being attacked by dogs and fire hoses were shown throughout the world
Added to timeline:
USA 1945 - 1974
Date:
