The Montgomery bus boycott originally began as a one-day affair designed to show city authorities that black residents wanted more fair and less humiliating treatment on the buses — essentially, a kinder system of segregation. At the mass meeting in early December 1955, however, the residents decided to continue the boycott — and it would continue for the next 381 days. In this video, Martin Luther King articulates the origins and meaning of the boycott while Ralph Abernathy rallies the support of members of the black community in Montgomery.

Evaluating the Evidence