Martin Luther King Research Paper

Annie Cook

10/15/17

Formal Writing Artifact 1: Biography Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15,1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was originally born Michael King Jr. but then later changed it to Martin Luther King Jr. King completed his Ph. D when he was only twenty-five. He later became a successful minister just like his father and grandfather before him. King had a huge impact on race relations in the United States. He was a social activist who led the civil Rights Movement from mid-1950s-1968. It was through his activism and inspirational speeches that he played an important role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the United States. He helped create the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and

This was where he made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, emphasizing that someday "all men could be brothers". In 1965 a civil rights march turned violent. The police beat protesters with their nightsticks and sprayed them with tear gas as they were crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The incident was televised and people saw how bloody and severely injured the protesters were. A second march was planned then later got cancelled due to a restraining order. There were 2,500 marchers of all races who tried to cross the bridge for a second time, but the police were there barricading the entrance. President Lyndon Johnson ordered the U.S Army troops and the Alabama National Guard to protect the protesters. In March, about 2,000 people marched from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery. The number of protesters began to increase from 2,000 to about 25,000. The marchers gathered in front of the state capitol where King gave a televised speech. After the historical peaceful protest President Johnson sigAned the 1965 Voting Rights

By 1968 King had grown tired of marches, being arrested,and the constant death threats. In December,1955 accepted the leadership of the "first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States. Spring of 1968 a labor strike organized by Memphis sanitation workers was King's last protest. April 3,1968 was when he gave his last speech titled "I've seen the promised land." The next day King was assassinated by a man named James Earl Ray. King was standing on his balcony when Ray shot him. It took the authorities two months to catch him. The assassination made people very angry so they began to riot and protest in more than 100 cities worldwide. Ray died in prison in 1998. Even after his death King is the most well known African -American leader of the 1950s-1960s. Martin Luther King Jr's life's work is being honored with national holidays and structures being named after him. King was a visionary leader who was very committed to achieving social justices through practicing nonviolent methods. He continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational African -American leaders in