In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed racial segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This was a major victory for the civil rights movement, and it helped to end the Jim Crow era in the United States. The following year, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting. This law was essential to ensuring that African Americans could exercise their right to vote, which had been denied to them for many years. The Voting Rights Act was the result of the Selma to Montgomery marches, which were led by Martin Luther King, Jr. These two landmark pieces of legislation helped to achieve significant progress in the fight for civil rights in the United States. They helped to end segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement, and they paved the way for greater equality for all Americans.