Martin Luther King Jr.

By Harrison Krauss

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Martin Luther King Jr.

Chapter 2: Montgomery Bus Boycott

Chapter 3: March on Washington

Chapter 4: Martin Luther King Jr. Dies

Bibliography

Chapter 1:
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He became a
Baptist minister, activist, and African American Civil Rights leader. He married Coretta Scott
King in 1953. They had four children named Dexter, Yolanda, Bernice, and Martin Luther King
III. He helped stop segregation because he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he helped with the
March on Washington, and he gave people equal rights in Memphis.
The first reason that Martin Luther King Jr. helped stop segregation is because he led the
Montgomery Bus Boycott. He led the Montgomery bus boycott because African Americans
didnt have equal rights on buses and he wanted to change that. He gave the African Americans
equal rights on buses, because most of the people that rode the buses were African American and
they lost money. Eventually the Supreme Court said that African Americans didnt have to give
their seats to white people on buses. One reason the Montgomery Bus Boycott started was
because Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat. This is why Martin Luther King Jr.
helped stop segregation.
Another reason that Martin Luther King Jr. helped stop segregation is because he helped
with the March on Washington. At the March on Washington he gave his powerful I Have a
Dream speech. 200,000 to 300,000 people gathered there to listen to his speech. He gave his I
Have a Dream speech from the Lincoln Memorial. His speech helped stop segregation because
it showed how much better the world would be if everyone was treated the same. This shows
why Martin Luther King Jr. helped stop segregation.
The last reason that Martin Luther King Jr. helped stop segregation is because he gave
African American sanitation workers, in Memphis, equal rights. In Memphis the workers werent
getting paid as much as white sanitation workers. Some African American sanitation workers
had even been killed on the job because of poor working environment. They went on strike and
called it the Memphis Sanitation Strike. While this was happening Martin Luther King Jr. was
shot at his hotel by James Earl Ray. This proves why Martin Luther King Jr. helped stop
segregation.
Martin Luther King Jr. was 39 years old when he was assassinated in Memphis. We
celebrate his accomplishments every 3rd Monday in January. He helped stop segregation because
he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he helped with the March on Washington, and he gave
people equal rights in Memphis.

Chapter 2:
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a boycott in which African Americans stopped riding
the buses in Montgomery. They stopped riding the buses because they had had enough of not
having equal rights on the buses. They boycotted the buses because most of the people that rode
buses in Montgomery were African American and this made them lose money. When a white
person got on a bus and an African American was sitting in a seat, they had to give them their
seat if they asked. They believed this was unfair so, they boycotted the buses. One person who
helped boycott the buses was Rosa Parks.

Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 and died October 24,
20005. She was a civil rights activist and believed in equal rights. Her
birthday and the day she was arrested have both become Rosa Parks Day.
On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery Rosa Parks was arrested
because she wouldnt give her seat to a white man. After the boycott and
being released from prison, she moved to Detroit. There she became a
secretary and retired. In 2005 Rosa Parks died in her Detroit apartment
from old age.

Did you know?

Nine months
before Rosa
Parks was
arrested,
Claudette Colvin
was arrested for
the same thing.

Chapter 3:
March on Washington
The March on Washington was one of the
largest political rallies for human rights in the US.
200,000 to 300,000 people listened to Martin Luther
King Juniors expressive I Have a Dream speech.
He gave his speech August 28, 1963. His speech was
given in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
One reason that the march happened was
because they wanted equal rights. Thats why
another name for the March on Washington is the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They
wanted equal rights because in the south it seemed
like white people were more important than African
Americans.

This is a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. during his "I Have a
Dream" speech.

A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Bush, and Cleveland Robinson all helped organize the March
on Washington. Some other people that were there are Jackie Robinson, Bill Russell, and Roy
Wilkins. At the march, 75 to 80% of the people there were African American. The march helped
pass the civil rights act. The civil rights act took place in 1964. It outlawed discrimination based
on race, sex, color, or national origin.

Chapter 4:
Martin Luther King Jr. Dies
Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis, Tennessee when he died. He was in Memphis to
help support the Memphis Sanitation Strike. The Memphis Sanitation Strike was a strike for
African American sanitation workers who weren't being treated equally. They weren't being
treated equally because they weren't getting paid as much as white sanitation workers were in
Memphis. They concluded that this was unfair and one-sided.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. he
was shot April 4, 1968 when he was 39 years old. He was shot in the head by James Earl Ray.
James Earl Ray was caught trying to flee at an airport in London. He was sent back to America
and put in prison. 30 years later he died in prison at age 70.
Every third Monday in January we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Martin
Luther King Jr. Day we remember everything Martin Luther King Jr. accomplished. The first
time all 50 states celebrated martin Luther King Jr. Day together was 2000.

Bibliography
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Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Civil+rights+act - Google Search." Civil+rights+act - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

"Martin Luther King Jr." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"EasyBib: The Free Automatic Bibliography Composer." EasyBib. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.