Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County , [ 1 ] in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River , the city has a population of 17, as of the census. Selma was a trading center and market town during the antebellum years of King Cotton in the South. It was also an important armaments-manufacturing and iron shipbuilding center for the Confederacy during the Civil War , surrounded by miles of earthen fortifications.
The Confederate forces were defeated during the Battle of Selma , in the final full month of the war. In modern times, the city is best known for the s civil rights movement and the Selma to Montgomery marches , beginning with "Bloody Sunday" in March , when unarmed peaceful protesters were assaulted by County and state highway police.
By the end of March , an estimated 25, people entered Montgomery to press for voting rights. This activism generated national attention for social justice.
That summer, the Voting Rights Act of was passed by Congress to authorize federal oversight and enforcement of constitutional rights of all American citizens. Due to agriculture and industry decline, Selma has lost about a third of its peak population since the s. The city is focusing on heritage tourism, to build on its role as a major influence in civil rights and desegregation.
One in every three residents in Selma lives below the state poverty line. Before discovery and settlement, the area of present-day Selma had been inhabited for thousands of years by various warring tribes of Native Americans.
