I Have a DreamI Have a Dream

Dr. Martin Luther Dr. Martin Luther KingKing

Historical BackgroundHistorical Background

• The Declaration of Independence (1776)– “We hold these to be self-evident, that all men

are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

• The Constitution of the United States (1781, 1787)

• Mostly drafted by Thomas Jefferson

• Emancipation Proclamation (Sep.22, 1862)– Signed by Abraham Lincoln, valid f

rom Jan. 1863– aimed to abolish slavery, but south

ern states refused to abide by it• Gettysburg Address (Nov.19, 18

63, Abraham Lincoln)– “Four score and seven years ago

our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation”

• The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution (Dec.18, 1865)– Formal abolishment of slavery

The Civil Rights MovementThe Civil Rights Movement

• 1954, Supreme Court bans segregation in public schools

• 1955-56, Montgomery Bus Boycott

Montgomery Bus BoycottMontgomery Bus Boycott• Jim Crow

practices

• the arrest of Rosa Parks, 1 December 1955

• Victory: the federal district court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional on 4 June 1956

• leaders of the black bus boycott in Montgomery: the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, and Martin Luther King Jr.,

• Rosa Parks sits in the front of a city bus in Montgomery, Ala. on Dec. 21, 1956, the day a Supreme Court ruling banning segregation of the city's public transit vehicles went into effect.

The Civil Rights MovementThe Civil Rights Movement

• 1960,The sit-in protest movement in Greensboro, N.C. that spreads across the nation.

• 1961, Freedom rides begin from Washington, D.C:

• Freedom riders prepare to resume their trip through the South. May 24, 1961. The Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson, Miss., and spent 40 to 60 days in jail.

• 1962, riots as James Meredith is enrolled as the first black at the University of Mississippi

The Civil Rights MovementThe Civil Rights Movement

• August 28,1963, 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 15, 1929

• Sep. 1954, King moves to Montgomery, Alabama, to preach at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

• 1955, King finishes his Ph.D. in systematic theology.

• 1958, King's first book published, "Stride Toward Freedom,“ stabbed by an African-American woman

• .

• 1959, visits Mohandas K. Gandhi, and his passive resistance techniques

• 1956, King is arrested, his house bombed

• 1957, King traveled 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches this year alone.

• President Eisenhower (third from left) meets with civil rights leaders on June 23, 1958.

• 1962, meets with President John F. Kennedy to urge support for civil rights .

• 1963, arrested after demonstrating in defiance of a court order, King writes "Letter From Birmingham Jail," a classic of the civil-rights movement.

• 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, King delivers the famous "I have a dream" speech.

• 1964, visits with West Berlin Mayor Willy Brant and Pope Paul VI.

• December 10, 1965, wins Nobel Peace Prize.

• on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel Memphis hotel, a day before King's assassination. April 3,1968.

• King's assassination was international news.

• Black, white, young and old sang "We Shall Overcome" as they marched down Denny Way to the Seattle Center to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The crowd was estimated at 10,000. April 7, 1968.

• The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum

• From the Gallery of 20th century martyrs at Westminster Abbey. 2nd from the left, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr