Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Impact on the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960
I. Introduction
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important and influential civil rights activist in the history of the United States of America. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia to Alberta Williams and Michael Luther King Sr. Originally, King’s name was going to be Michael Luther King Jr., but his father renamed him to Martin Luther King Jr. after a trip to Europe. As a kid, King attended segregated schools, and graduated high school at age 15 (John A. Kirk). King attended Morehouse College, trying many different majors, such as sociology, medicine and law, before finally settling to major in ministry. In 1948, King was ordained by his father as co-minister at Ebenezer Church. After graduating from Morehouse in June 1948, King studied for a divinity degree at Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1951 (Kirk). After that, King enrolled in the Systematic Theology PHD program at Boston University. While at Boston University, King met Coretta Scott, his future wife (Nobel). Initially, King’s father wanted him to marry a woman from Atlanta, and opposed King’s plans to marry Coretta. “When King refused to back down, his father relented, and on June 18, 1953, he performed the marriage ceremony at the Scott family home in rural Perry County, Alabama” (Kirk). Martin Luther King Jr’s role in the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960’s positively affected the removal of segregation.
II. Historical Setting and Conflict
Prior to King’s involvement, tensions had been rising within the Black community about segregation laws long before King’s time. In the mid-15th century, European traders started exporti...
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born at noon on January 15, 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee to the Reverend Martin Luther King and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. spent the first twelve years in the Auburn Avenue home that his parents shared with his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Adam Daniel Williams and Jennie Celeste Williams. When Reverend Williams passed away in 1931, Martin Luther King Sr. became the new pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and established himself as a major figure in both state and national Baptist groups. Martin Luther King Jr. later attended Atlanta’s Morehouse College from 1944 to 1948 during his undergraduate years. During this time, Morehouse College President Benjamin E. Mays had convinced Martin Luther King Jr. to accept his calling and to view Christianity as a “potential force for progressive social change. Martin Luther King Jr. was ordained during his last semester in Morehouse.” It was also around this time that Martin Luther King Jr. had begun his first steps towards political activism. In 1951, King Jr. began his doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University’s School of Theology. In 1953, Martin Luther King Jr. married Coretta Scott on June 18 in a ceremony that took place i...
It is no secret that Martin Luther King Jr. did great things. We have learned in school that he was a leader in the movement to desegregate the South. He has served as a role model for people across the globe. But even though Martin did change the world for the better, it was not without hardships. We gathered new information on Dr. King in the essay, “Heeding the Call” by Diana Childress. From his childhood to his last days, Martin faced massive opposition. Still, all of these challenges brought Martin the wisdom and idealism he used throughout his life.
Lischer, Richard The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the word that moved America Oxford University Press: 1995. Print
Martin Luther King, Jr., born on January 15, 1929, was well known for his nonviolent movement to bring justice and to an end to the segregation of the people in the United States back in the 1950s. With King being the leader of a peaceful protest, it failed to bring equally to the colored people. Martin Luther King, Jr. was labeled as an “outsider” who was “hatred and violence” and that his actions were “unwise and untimely” from the Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen (clergymen). In response, on the day of April 16, 1963, he wrote the Letter from Birmingham Jail to declare and defense his movement was not “unwise and untimely” at all. To analyze his points, King used the powerful literary devices of pathos- use of an emotional appeal.ethos-
Everyone that has been through the American school system within the past 20 years knows exactly who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is, and exactly what he did to help shape the United States to what it is today. In the beginning of the book, Martin Luther King Jr. Apostle of Militant Nonviolence, by James A. Colaiaco, he states that “this book is not a biography of King, [but] a study of King’s contribution to the black freedom struggle through an analysis and assessment of his nonviolent protest campaigns” (2). Colaiaco discusses the successful protests, rallies, and marches that King put together. . Many students generally only learn of Dr. King’s success, and rarely ever of his failures, but Colaiaco shows of the failures of Dr. King once he started moving farther North.
Historians offer different perceptions of the significance of Martin Luther King and the 1963 March on Washington. Without examining this event within its historical context the media publicity and iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech can easily overshadow progress that was already underway in America. It was insisted by prominent civil rights activist Ella Baker, ‘the movement made Martin rather than Martin making the movement.’ What is important not to overlook is the significant change that took place in the United States during the previous 100 years. Such that, many influential figures in support of racial equality opposed the March. The Civil Rights Act proposed by President Kennedy in 1963 was already in the legislative process. Furthermore the Federal Government was now reasserting power over the entire of the United States by enforcing a policy of desegregation. It is important to note that these changes all took place less than one hundred years after the Thirteenth Amendment in 1965 abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth amendment in 1968 acknowledged the rights of former slaves to be acknowledged as U.S citizens. With this level of progress Kennedy was against the March going ahead due to the argument that it was limited in what it could achieve. Today, King’s 1963 Speech is viewed as one of the most iconic speeches in history. However, was it a key turning point in African Americans achieving racial equality? Federal endorsement would suggest yes after decades of southern states being able to subvert the Federal law designed to break down segregation. This support built upon the corner stones of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments in the nineteenth century. Therefore looking at the national status of black Americans fro...
Martin Luther King Jr was born on the 15th of January, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, known as Michael Luther King Jr and was than assassinated on the 4th of April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The world renowned Baptist minister and social activist had a massive impact on the American civil rights movement from the mid 1950’s until his assassination in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr’s up bringing was fairly pleasant and he was brought up with a great education. However, he had his couple of prejudices and traumatic experience through out his life. One of these including one of his friends who was a fair skinned boy who was told to tell King that he was no longer allowed to play with him because the children were now attending
“Martin Luther King, Jr...” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. .
Dr. King was born the son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr, a devout Christian who would raise his son to be so as well. Dr. King skipped ninth and twelfth grade and went on to Morehouse College at the age of fifteen. He graduated in 1948 with a B. A. degree in Sociology. He then went on to attend Crozer Theological Seminary and received his B. Div. degree in 1951. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott and in 1955 he graduated Boston University with a Ph. D. in Systematic Theology. By this point in his life, he was also the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
"Lewis, John (1940-)" Martin Luther King JR. And the Global Freedom Struggle. Stanford University, Web. Feb.-Mar. 2014.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American baptist minister, Civil Rights activist, and humanitarian. He was born on January 25, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia under the name of Michael King, Jr. Both he and his father later adopted the name of the German protestant leader Martin Luther in honor of him. King thrived at Booker T. Washington High School, graduating at the age of 15 before moving on to Morehouse College. For years, he had questioned religion, but in his third year of college, he took a bible class that renewed his faith. King later went on to study at Crozer theological seminary for three years. He met his future wife during his last year of seminary, and went on to receive his Ph.D in 1955 at the age of 25.
The 1960’s was a time period in which produced a plethora of social movements were taking place and consequently, laws were changed that affected our society as a whole. Some of those social movements were the Women Rights and Gay Rights movements, which were directly influenced by the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement produced many leaders, two of whom are Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). King’s call for little black children to play with little white children, his admonishment of a black revolution due to the detrimental effects it would have on black and white relations, and his support of white and black children receiving the same education, directly shows that he supported a united effort to tackle discrimination. Consequently, during the 1960’s racial, political, and socioeconomic divisions were abundant and only through inclusion of all people to promote unity could society become better. Therefore, Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy made the most sense for the 1960’s because he promoted the inclusion of people from all backgrounds to produce harmonious living within our society.
One of the most significant societal movements during the 1960s was the Civil Rights movement, a coalition lead by many that voiced strong opposition to the war in Vietnam. Martin Luther King Jr was a huge voice for civil liberties, and according critic Mark Barringer, “Martin Luther King Jr openly expressed support for the antiwar movement on moral grounds…asserting that the war was draining much-needed resources from domestic programs”(Barringer 3). Martin Luther King Jr had a profound effect on the 1960s civil rights movement. He was eventually assassinated for his invo...
American & World History. http://www.history.com/topics/martin-luther-king-jr (accessed October 1, 2013). Primary source: a. King, Martin Luther, and Clayborne Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Intellectual Property Management in association with Warner Books, 1998.
Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...