Countless Americans in the U.S. have impacted history such as Abraham Lincoln allowing slaves to be free and Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat to a white man. In the midst of the late 1800’s to the middle 1900’s, Martin Luther King led the Civil Rights Movement for equal rights for African American people. This helped allow African Americans to have freedom and equal rights. Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, believed in equal rights and freedom for African Americans. Yet he was assassinated for these beliefs.

In the early 1929’s, Alberta King and Martin Luther King Sr. gave birth to Martin Luther King Jr. on January 25, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin Luther King Sr. was a pastor in Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.  Martin Luther King Jr. was born into a family of five. He was the middle child. He had an older sister and a younger brother.  In 1946, Martin Luther King Jr.  wrote a letter to  the editor of the Atlanta Constitution about black people. He stated that they “are entitled to basic rights and opportunities of American citizens.”(“Stanford 1”) The letter was published in the Atlanta Constitution. M.L.K. Jr. was ordained a pastor in 1948 and became an assistant pastor to Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia. On June 18, 1953 M.L.K. Jr. got married to Coretta Scott, and they had  four children: two boys and two girls. In 1954, M.L.K. Jr. began his pastorate in Alabama. Three years later, M.L.K. Jr. appeared on the cover of Times Magazine because he was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement and the writer of “I Have a Dream Speech”. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a book called Stride Towards Freedom: The Montgomery Story. He wrote this book to show people about his life and what he had to go through.  It was published September 20,1958. He had a book signing in Harlem N.Y. where he was stabbed in the chest with a seven inch letter opener by a person named Izda. This showed how people felt and viewed people of a different race during that time period.

In the middle of 1900’s, Martin Luther King Jr. was an important person who led the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans.  He led many marches and protests in which some were peaceful and some  which turned violent.  One protest march that he led was on March 28. It turned into a violent march in which it killed one person and injured sixty people. Martin Luther King Jr. was then arrested because of the violent protest. On October 16, 1961,  Martin Luther King Jr. met with President John F. Kennedy to talk to him about making a second Emancipation Proclamation to get rid of the racial segregation in the United States.  On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther Jr. recited a speech that would change the course of history and would be well known. The “I Have A Dream” speech took place in Washington D.C. in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The speech was to support the Civil Rights Movement so African Americans can be treated equal. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” (“King 4”) Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this in his speech to say that everyone is made equal and questioned why would African Americans be discriminated because of the color  of their skin. The speech was then accompanied by a rally that Martin Luther King Jr. led.  On September 18th,  Martin Luther King Jr. read the eulogy for the funerals for three of the four girls who were killed in the bombing of the Baptist Church in Birmingham. The bombing took place at 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama on  September 16, 1963 when four girls were killed and many people were injured. The suspects for the bombing were believed to be done by the KKK( Ku Klux Klan).
Near the end of Marin Luther King Jr.’s life an important event had occured. On December 10, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement and his work to  have a country with a less violent future. In his acceptance speech Martin, concluded with “All those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty - and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.” (“Nobel 2”) Three years and four months later Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed because he was an instrumental part of the Civil Rights Movement.

At the end of his life Martin Luther King Jr. was 39 years old. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray. He was supposed to go out to dinner with Andrew Young an SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) representative and his collaborators, but it never happened due to Martin’s unexpected death. After the death of Martin Luther King Jr., the FBI found out that James Earl Ray was the person who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. The FBI found his fingerprints on a rifle in a house nearby. James was then accused of murder and and had received 99 years in prison.  On April 8th, four days after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, there was supposed to be a protest march. After news broke out of his death, riots broke out. In Chicago, a riot broke out and 350 people were arrested and 162 buildings were demolished. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.” (“Nobel 1”) and this was true. Even after all of his preaching, people could not be in peace as shown after his death. 

Even after Martin Luther King Jr. had died he had impacted the world because of his work in the Civil Rights Movement. The belief for equal rights and freedom for all African Americans were what Martin Luther King Jr. wanted for the world. Some people disagreed with him and one person took action. He shot and killed Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 because of his beliefs.  Martin Luther King Jr.’s work in the Civil Rights Movement started as a high schooler and later started marches and protests. He was later assassinated by a man named James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968. Because of Martin Luther King Jr. African Americans in the U.S. have more freedom and less discrimination.