Freedom Rides | History, Definition, Map, Facts, & Significance

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[{"p":1,"t":218576},{"p":1,"t":119351},{"p":1,"t":1097927},{"p":1,"t":569887},{"p":7,"t":318311},{"p":1,"t":1690113},{"p":1,"t":1989140},{"p":1,"t":2180872},{"p":1,"t":546774},{"p":1,"t":385612}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="218576"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Freedom-Rides">Freedom Rides</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Freedom-Rides/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Freedom-Rides">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Freedom-Rides/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/66/228266-050-CFC525E1/Freedom-Riders-bus-Montgomery-Alabama-May-24-1961.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/259530" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/66/228266-004-081FABDB/Freedom-Riders-bus-Montgomery-Alabama-May-24-1961.jpg" alt="Freedom Riders" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/218713-050-ED68FD72/Freedom-rides-riders-civil-rights-movement-1961.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/250560" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/218713-004-ED68FD72/Freedom-rides-riders-civil-rights-movement-1961.jpg" alt="Explore the routes of the Freedom Rides of 1961" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/260738-050-E21F8A94/Mug-shots-of-Freedom-Riders.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/313552" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/260738-004-0CD925CB/Mug-shots-of-Freedom-Riders.jpg" alt="Jackson Police Department booking photographs of Freedom Riders" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/149701-050-B70EB243/museum-site-bus-station-Greyhound-mob-Montgomery-May-20-1961.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/244955" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/149701-004-5CAB00D6/museum-site-bus-station-Greyhound-mob-Montgomery-May-20-1961.jpg" alt="Freedom Rides Museum" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/98/149698-050-3DE1D35E/Freedom-Riders-bus-Montgomery-Alabama-May-24-1961.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/156162" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" 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September 1961 </dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Location: </dt> <dd><a href="/place/United-States">United States</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Context: </dt> <dd><a href="/event/American-civil-rights-movement">American civil rights movement</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Key People: </dt> <dd><a href="/biography/Stokely-Carmichael">Stokely Carmichael</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Rubye-Robinson">Rubye Robinson</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Diane-Nash">Diane Nash</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/John-Lewis-American-civil-rights-leader-and-politician">John Lewis</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Fred-Shuttlesworth">Fred Shuttlesworth</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Freedom-Rides"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref807357"></span>Freedom Rides</strong>, in U.S. history, a series of political protests against <span id="ref810302"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/racial-segregation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">segregation</a> by Blacks and whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="250560" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/218713-050-ED68FD72/Freedom-rides-riders-civil-rights-movement-1961.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/218576/250560"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/218713-050-ED68FD72/Freedom-rides-riders-civil-rights-movement-1961.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/218713-050-ED68FD72/Freedom-rides-riders-civil-rights-movement-1961.jpg?w=300" alt="Explore the routes of the Freedom Rides of 1961" data-width="800" data-height="1850" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/218713-050-ED68FD72/Freedom-rides-riders-civil-rights-movement-1961.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/250560">Explore the routes of the Freedom Rides of 1961</a><span>Infographic showing the routes and timeline of the Freedom Rides of 1961.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1946 the U.S. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Supreme-Court-of-the-United-States" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Supreme Court</a> banned segregation in interstate bus travel. A year later the <span id="ref810301"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Congress-of-Racial-Equality" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Congress of Racial Equality</a> (CORE) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation tested the ruling by staging the <span id="ref810300"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Journey-of-Reconciliation" class="md-crosslink ">Journey of Reconciliation</a>, on which an interracial group of activists rode together on a bus through the upper South, though fearful of journeying to the Deep South. Following this example and responding to the Supreme Court’s <em><span id="ref810303"></span>Boynton</em> v. <em>Virginia</em> decision of 1960, which extended the earlier ruling to include bus terminals, restrooms, and other facilities associated with interstate travel, a group of seven <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">African Americans</a> and six whites left Washington, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Washington-DC" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">D.C.</a>, on May 4, 1961, on a Freedom Ride in two buses bound for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Orleans-Louisiana" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New Orleans</a>. Convinced that segregationists in the South would violently protest this exercise of their <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constitutional" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutional" data-type="MW">constitutional</a> right, the Freedom Riders hoped to provoke the federal government into enforcing the Boynton decision. When they stopped along the way, white riders used facilities designated for Blacks and vice versa.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="313552" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/260738-050-E21F8A94/Mug-shots-of-Freedom-Riders.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/218576/313552"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/260738-050-E21F8A94/Mug-shots-of-Freedom-Riders.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/260738-050-E21F8A94/Mug-shots-of-Freedom-Riders.jpg?w=300" alt="Jackson Police Department booking photographs of Freedom Riders" data-width="1510" data-height="1600" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">1 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/38/260738-050-E21F8A94/Mug-shots-of-Freedom-Riders.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/313552">Jackson Police Department booking photographs of Freedom Riders</a><span>Collage of mug shots of Mississippi Freedom Riders, Jackson, Mississippi, July 2–4, 1961. The Black activists were arrested after attempting to use whites-only bathrooms and lunch counters and vice versa.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="244955" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/149701-050-B70EB243/museum-site-bus-station-Greyhound-mob-Montgomery-May-20-1961.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/218576/244955"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/149701-050-B70EB243/museum-site-bus-station-Greyhound-mob-Montgomery-May-20-1961.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/149701-050-B70EB243/museum-site-bus-station-Greyhound-mob-Montgomery-May-20-1961.jpg?w=300" alt="Freedom Rides Museum" data-width="1600" data-height="1044" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">2 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/149701-050-B70EB243/museum-site-bus-station-Greyhound-mob-Montgomery-May-20-1961.jpg" data-href="/media/1/218576/244955">Freedom Rides Museum</a><span>Freedom Rides Museum, Montgomery, Alabama, preserving the Greyhound bus station where Freedom Riders were attacked and beaten by a mob on May 20, 1961.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-key-figures-in-the-American-civil-rights-movement#ref386233" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Freedom Riders</a> encountered violence in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Carolina" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">South Carolina</a>, but in <span id="ref810304"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Alabama-state" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Alabama</a> the reaction was much more severe. On May 14, upon stopping outside <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Anniston" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Anniston</a> to change a slashed tire, one bus was firebombed and the Freedom Riders were beaten. Arriving in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Birmingham-Alabama" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Birmingham</a>, Alabama, the second bus was similarly attacked and the passengers beaten. In both cases law enforcement was suspiciously late in responding, and there were <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="suspicions" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/suspicions" data-type="EB">suspicions</a> of collusion in that late response. Although the original Riders were unable to find a bus line to carry them farther, a second group of 10, originating in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Nashville-Tennessee" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Nashville</a> and partly organized by the <span id="ref810305"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Student-Nonviolent-Coordinating-Committee" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee</a> (SNCC), renewed the effort. Undeterred by being arrested in Birmingham and transported back to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Tennessee" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Tennessee</a>, the new Freedom Riders returned to Birmingham and, at the behest of U.S. Attorney General <span id="ref1112185"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-F-Kennedy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Robert F. Kennedy</a>, secured a bus and protection from the State Highway Patrol as they traveled to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Montgomery-Alabama" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Montgomery</a>, Alabama, where, when local police failed to protect them, they were again beaten.</p><div class="md-timeline module-spacing"> <div class="timeline-title text-blue-dark text-uppercase font-weight-bold ml-20 my-15">American civil rights movement Events</div> <div class="slick-timeline"> <div class="grid"> <div class="col-auto d-flex align-items-center align-self-center hidden-xs"> <button class="slick-timeline--arrow slick-timeline--arrow-prev material-icons">keyboard_arrow_left</button> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="timeline-slides py-10"> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/event/Brown-v-Board-of-Education-of-Topeka" title="Brown v. Board of Education"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/91825-050-6828171F/George-EC-Hayes-Thurgood-Marshall-court-James-May-17-1954.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="Brown v. Board of Education" /> </div> <div class="title">Brown v. Board of Education</div> <div class="text-black">May 17, 1954</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/event/sit-in-movement" title="sit-in movement"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/99/231799-050-A14A7749/Greensboro-Woolworth-store-sit-ins-Greensboro-North-Carolina.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="Where the Greensboro sit-in happened" /> </div> <div class="title">sit-in movement</div> <div class="text-black">1960 - 1961</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide selected " href="/event/Freedom-Rides" title="Freedom Rides"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/66/228266-050-CFC525E1/Freedom-Riders-bus-Montgomery-Alabama-May-24-1961.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="Freedom Riders" /> </div> <div class="title">Freedom Rides</div> <div class="text-black">May 4, 1961 - September 1961</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/event/March-on-Washington" title="March on Washington"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/70/92670-050-C2682436/Tens-of-thousands-Washington-DC-people-support-Aug-28-1963.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="March on Washington" /> </div> <div class="title">March on Washington</div> <div class="text-black">August 28, 1963</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/event/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1964" title="Civil Rights Act"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/136088-050-17171BF5/Pres-Lyndon-B-Johnson-others-Martin-Luther-July-2-1964.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="Civil Rights Act of 1964" /> </div> <div class="title">Civil Rights Act</div> <div class="text-black">1964</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/event/Watts-Riots-of-1965" title="Watts Riots of 1965"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/184788-050-F56B764E/confrontations-Police-men-Watts-district-police-residents-March-1966.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="police in Watts, 1966" /> </div> <div class="title">Watts Riots of 1965</div> <div class="text-black">August 11, 1965 - August 16, 1965</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/event/Loving-v-Virginia" title="Loving v. Virginia"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/29/193929-050-5803E30E/Mildred-and-Richard-Loving-1958.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="Mildred and Richard Loving" /> </div> <div class="title">Loving v. Virginia</div> <div class="text-black">June 12, 1967</div> </a> <a class="timeline-slide " href="/topic/Poor-Peoples-March" title="Poor People’s Campaign"> <div class="image-container"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/62203-050-135E4071/Ralph-Abernathy-Poor-Peoples-Campaign-Atlanta-Georgia-1968.jpg?w=500&h=500" alt="Poor People's Campaign" /> </div> <div class="title">Poor People’s Campaign</div> <div class="text-black">June 19, 1968</div> </a> </div> </div> <div class="col-auto d-flex align-items-center align-self-center hidden-xs"> <button class="slick-timeline--arrow slick-timeline--arrow-next material-icons">keyboard_arrow_right</button> </div> </div> </div> <div class="slick-timeline--dots mb-10"></div> </div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Thereafter <span id="ref1112186"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/US-National-Guard" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">National Guard</a> support was provided when 27 Freedom Riders continued on to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Jackson-Mississippi" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Jackson</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mississippi-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Mississippi</a>, only to be arrested and jailed. On May 29 Kennedy ordered the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Interstate-Commerce-Commission" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Interstate Commerce Commission</a> to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="enforce" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/enforce" data-type="EB">enforce</a> even stricter guidelines banning segregation in interstate travel. Still, Freedom Riders continued to travel by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mass-transit" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">public transportation</a> in the South until that dictate took effect in September.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/mindy-johnston/12488102">Mindy Johnston</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":218576,"pageLength":414,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.9"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.9' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"MEDIUM","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Freedom Rides | History, Definition, Map, Facts, & Significance | Britannica