Analysis Of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

In august 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stunned America with his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Dr. King’s speech is easily recognized as one of the best speeches throughout history. Dr. King captured America’s attention with his message that all people are created equal, even though at the time this was not seen in America, Dr. King expressed the need for it to be seen this way in the future. In his speech he used three elements to give his message, such as history, religion, and repetition. Dr. King studied documents such as the Gettysburg Address and the Deceleration of Independence in preparation for his speech, which brought a sense of history into his speech. He stood on the steps if the Lincoln Memorial and said “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.” He also references the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which declares “All men are created equal… with certain unalienable rights.” He uses these references to show that America may have freed the slaves in 1863, but still treat African-American’s as they are unequal in 1963.

King also studied the bible brining a strong aspect of religion into his speech. Since the civil rights movement was closely connected to Christianity the speech contains many biblical references. Two of the biblical allusions that were used were Amos 5:24 and Isaiah 40:4-5. Dr. King said “Justice rolls down like a mighty water, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” which is strongly influenced by Amos an old testament prophet who said “let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream.” Dr. King also directly quoted Isaiah, an old testament prophet, later in his