HIST 271
Blodgett
November 12, 2014
Martin Luther King Jr. Our world today is always changing and progressing to better society and improve our way of life. Throughout history, there have been many leaders that have helped change the world and accomplish some goals that were unbelievable. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the many great leaders in the United States who changed the United States forever. In “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.” edited by Clayborne Carson, Carson puts together thousands of recordings, documents, letters and more to create a book that allows readers to get inside King’s mind and the role he played in many acts to help America. The Civil Rights movement was a movement for African Americans to secure equal access and opportunity for basic privileges in the United States. African Americans and some whites believed that society could progress if everyone was treated equally; they thought that people shouldn’t be judged just by the color of their skin. Martin Luther King, Jr. got involved with the civil rights movement in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. After a phone call with Nixon, King stated, “I agreed that some protest was necessary and that they boycott method would be an effective one.” (King, p. 51). After she was arrested, the black community decided to start bus boycott and King was a strong leader of this boycott that lasted a year long. After this incident, King got more involved with the community and wanted to help create equality in other ways. He helped establish movements, committees, and acts that would fight for the rights of African Americans.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was best known for his non-violent approach to protests; it set the pathway for successful boycotts, protests and marches for many years. King was aiming for change in the world and wanted to create ways to accomplish this change. In order for society to move forward and better itself, things need to change. King believed that equal rights among all citizens would help the nation grow as one. The civil rights movement is a way to continue to move forward with this goal.
The Progressive Era was a time of social activism and political reform in the United States. Progressives wanted a more direct democracy and sought for change among the government and large corporations. Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the civil rights movement as an extension of progressivism because it was a way of bettering the United States with change. Our world grows each and every day with changes in technology, government, laws and so much