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Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

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On March 25, 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of other African-Americans marched from Selma to Montgomery in the state of Alabama to gain rights for people of color. The main focus of this march was to register black voters in the South. This protest was started because southerners were not following the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prevented discrimination in voting. Non violent resistance was used when Dr. King tried to lead peaceful marches but was met with a blockade of state troopers. This act of civil disobedience caught the attention of President Lyndon B. Johnson who had Congress pass the Voting Rights Acts which allowed African-Americans to vote. This protest shows the ideas of Dr. King because he led the march and showed …show more content…

The events leading up to the march started in 1962 when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee began protesting in Selma. In 1963, almost 400 African-American lined up to register to vote at the Dallas County Courthouse. Not many managed to register, but it is still considered a victory and the day is now known as “Freedom Day.” In 1963, King is arrested and placed in the Birmingham Jail. He writes a letter to his fellow clergymen men explaining why he is doing what he is doing and states, ”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1). On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed “which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin” (Civil Rights Act, 1). This was a huge triumph for Martin Luther King Jr. and all other civil rights activists. However, there is still discrimination. In 1965, almost 300 marchers, lead by Dr. King, go to the courthouse to register but they were told to wait outside and were left there. No one was registered. In total “only 2 percent of Selma’s eligible black voters (300 out of 15,000) had managed to register” (Selma to Montgomery March, 1). After that, many protests began out front of the

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The Selma to Montgomery March Imagine not being able to vote, to choose your own government officials, to serve on juries, or to choose the kind of country you lived in. During the Selma march of 1965, they were marching so that African Americans would be able to vote and to make these choices. The Selma to Montgomery March was important in the Civil Rights Movement because of the events that led up to it, the march itself, and because it helped pass the Voting Rights Act.

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Martin Luther King was a firm advocate of peaceful protests and actions to attain social change; however, these actions failed to bring equality. On April 10th, 1963 the city of Birmingham banned street marches without permission. When King refused to call off his demonstrations he was arrested on April 12, and placed in solitary confinement in the Birmingham Jail. While in jail King read the newspaper ad “A Call for Unity”, calling King’s activities “unwise and untimely”; this ad was a public statement signed by eight Alabama clergymen in protest to King’s actions. In response to this, King writes “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, arguing the points the eight men made in their statements and defending his actions.

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In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

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After the march the right for African Americans to vote in the south was becoming possible for them. Later, August 6,1965. The president signed a law, Voting Rights Act of 1965, stating the southern states must stop their practice of discrimination and not allowing African Americans to vote. James Meredith’s March Against Fear affected the present and future non-segregation between blacks and

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Selma March, with the help of the president's involvement and publicity, helped trigger public opinion and political action. Just five months after the march, there was a positive change in voting rights. 25 000 participants in an 80 km march faced several attempts to stop them, even violently. It was a peaceful march, intended to build public awareness and sympathy to achieve

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In March of 1965, thousands of Americans black and white began the 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. All the men and women of the crowd had the same agenda of protesting in favor of Black Civil Rights, but along the way encountered state police who proceeded to brutally beat the crowd on national television1. As news of this horrific event spread through the screens and radios of America President Lyndon B. Johnson stood by creating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure that every American regardless of Race or Gender could legally and without confliction have the right to vote. Shortly thereafter on March 15, 1965 Johnson took to the podium and in front of cabinet members and foreign ambassadors proceeded to deliver the speech

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On August 28, 1963, a very important civil rights movement occurred. It was called the March on Washington. On the day of the march, over 200,000 US citizens gathered to participate in the non-violent protest against segregation. This march was where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his very famous and inspiring "I Have a Dream" speech in which he told about his dream of a better, more equal United States of America. This event had an amazing impact on many people all around the US for many reasons.

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" One of his famous accomplishments was the March from Washington to the Lincoln memorial took place in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Over 20,000 people came to march on, this event is where he became a huge influence of the civil rights movement. In the mind of Dr. King, he was convinced that self-respect would come through

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Likewise, 19.3 percent of eligible African-Americans were registered in Alabama and more shockingly less than half a percent of African-American voters were registered in Selma, Alabama. Dr. King believed the only way to put force the national government to truly enforce the law was through direct-action campaigns. Dr. King went down to the worst of the worst Selma, Alabama. SCLC, along with other African-American activist, planned a march. In March of 1965, led by Dr. King, protestors Marched from Selma to the state capital, Montgomery.

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The march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama in 1965 was a protest against black injustice. In response to these protest President Johnson set the stage for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act “struck down restriction to voting in all election (doc#6). This allowed blacks to vote. It enhanced democracy because more people could vote.

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On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of people marched to support freedom. They marched up and down Constitution and Independence avenues in Washington D.C. before the long awaited speech. They wanted to listen to the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. had, and they wanted to be the people to make that dream real. The March on Washington was an important part of the Civil Rights Movement, including the “I Have a Dream” speech. The effects of this event can still be seen today, and have changed how our nation has developed.

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The March from Selma Alabama to Montgomery was an effort to amend voting laws, which aided in President Lyndon B. Johnson enacting the Voting Rights Act.

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in which King was calling for the end to racism in the United States. The speech was delivered to an estimated number from 200,000 to 300,000 civil rights supporters at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington. The March on Washington was for equals opportunities in Jobs and Freedom for black Americans. The speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863, King observes that: "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free"(Martin

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The Jim Crow era was a time of extreme racial discrimination. Laws and unfair systems were made to prevent black people from voting, such as poll taxes, impossible tests, transportation issues, and racist threats. The town of Selma, Alabama, was known for its resistance to unfair laws and segregation. Their goal was to secure their right to vote by passing the Voting Rights Act, a goal that would take much perseverance to reach with nonviolent direct action. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. created a system that could be used to stand up to injustices like those in Selma, which consisted of four points that were essential to nonviolent action.

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Although technically people of color had the right, white people were making it very difficult to register. When African Americans went to register they would be tested continuously, something white people never had to deal with. Only two percent of African Americans in the south could vote. Before the march from Selma to Montgomery there were many protests to try to gain fair voting rights. One man, Jimmie Lee Jackson was killed at a peaceful protest by a state trooper.

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