Martin Luther King Jr., was a man with an honorable character that contributed to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He is well known for his speech, “I have a Dream” given at the March on Washington in front of the Lincoln memorial. In this paper the author will analyze the background of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his contributions to the United States, and address historian views on Martin Luther King’s impact on the civil rights movement. Michael King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in the rural area of Atlanta, Georgia. His mother was Alberta Williams King and his father Michael King Sr. Later in their lives both Michael and his father changed their names to Martin in honor of the German Protestant, Martin Luther. Young Martin becomes a minister at the age of 18 and at the age of 26 Dr. King earns …show more content…
from Boston University. Dr. King lived during the Civil Rights Movement Era, an era in which African Americans made a national effort to eliminate segregation and gain equal rights. The Montgomery bus boycotts was one of Dr. Kings first steps in participation in the Civil Rights Movement not knowing that act would mark the change in history of the United States. King was quickly elected leader for the Montgomery Improvement Associate to mobilize the bus boycotts. With Dr. Kings non-violent sit-ins and protest lead to the commence of desegregation. The segregation on city buses was finally ruled to an end by the United States Supreme Court on November 1956. Dr. King also became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference right after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized various non-violent protest campaigns. One of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was the Birmingham campaign, a campaign that caused an end to the Jim Crow Laws. These laws legalized segregation and with