Final answer:
The Montgomery bus boycott was set in motion when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person. This sparked a protest campaign against racial segregation on the Montgomery public transit system, lasting 381 days and eventually leading to a Supreme Court decision.
Step-by-step explanation:
The events that led to the Montgomery bus boycott were set in motion when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person on December 1, 1955. This act of civil disobedience sparked a widespread protest campaign against racial segregation on the Montgomery public transit system.
The boycott lasted for 381 days and ultimately led to a Supreme Court decision declaring the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.
The boycotters remained nonviolent during the protest, despite facing violent opposition. In late 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation in response to a lawsuit filed by the boycotters. On December 21, 1956, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sat in the front seat of a Montgomery bus, symbolizing the end of bus segregation.