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esearch Outline + Essay on a person influential to the U.S.

Introduction

Attention-Getter: If you are an American and a member of the minority groups in the country,
you have Martin Luther King. Jr to thank for the freedom you are enjoying currently. His
influence came from his active role in fighting for equal treatment of all Americans regardless of
race, religion, or background. Although the then authority kept harassing him, he never gave up
on offering leadership to the civil rights movement.

Thesis: Dr. King influenced the masses worldwide by delivering some keynote addresses in the
struggle for equality that helped shape the course of the struggle. His call for civil disobedience
through non-violent means touched the hearts of millions, including his haters.

First Main Point

Dr. Luther King was the de facto leader of the civil rights movement during its peak in the
1960s, an era marked by the great transformation of American society and political discourse.

A. He founded and led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with the hope
of desegregating young people.
i. The movement called for a non-violent approach to solving American problems
bedeviling the country then, a strategy that not only acted on individual problems
but also as a powerful political tool that transformed America in the 20 th century.
ii. It was crucial in the 1965 March to Montgomery, the Selma voting rights
campaign, and the 1963 March on Washington.

B. The leader was widely recognized as the country's preeminent non-violence advocate and
the most prominent non-violent leader ever.
i. King promoted non-violent methods that have a history that stretches to the
Buddha. Mahatma Gandhi, who prevented a possible brutal end to British control
of India, impacted King. He eventually won freedom for his people.
ii. Rosa Parks' arrest for declining to forfeit her space on a public bus instigated the
Montgomery Bus Boycott, permitting MLK to speak in front of a crowd. In this
address, he presented some of his best-known concepts, such as non-violent
protests.

C. They kept harassing him to intimidate him in his call for a just America.
i. He was arrested 33 times
ii. He paid the ultimate price by falling victim to assassination (Bush, 2018).

Second Main Point

A. He was a powerful orator and used his strong oratory skills to deliver meaningful
addresses.
A. His first speech at the Montgomery Bus Boycott hurled him into the national
limelight and promoted him into a front-runner in the civil rights movement.
B. "Now let us go out to stick together and stay with this thing until the end" (Bush,
2006).
C. "There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the
abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair"
(Mohammad, 2011).
B. In the same year that MLK delivered his "I have a Dream Speech," he won the 1964
Nobel Peace Prize as the youngest individual to win the accolade.
i. During the award, he had an opportunity to address the congregants, which he
used to appreciate the movement in a deep acknowledgment that
nonaggression was the answer to the vital moral and political issues of that era
(Bush, 2015).
ii. The "I Have a Dream Speech" was so powerful that it pressured the
government of the day to focus more on passing the civil rights rules via
Congress (Bush, 2013).

C. In his speeches, the Civil rights movement leader portrayed a superior mastery of oratory
skills that left the audience asking for more (Jones, n.d.).
i. He connected to his audience. He built a symbiotic connection with his
listeners, where they turned to empower one another.
ii. He used repetition. In his every address, he frequently repeated a short yet
important statement like "I have a dream."

Conclusion

A. America would never have been a free country without MLK's input.
B. He championed non-violence means of civil disobedience and delivered some of the
best speeches in history.
C. Because of his conviction to carry on the battle for civil rights, he inspired the whole
country and future generations.

References

Bush, E. (2006). Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Bulletin of the
Center for Children's Books, 60(4), 170-170.

Bush, E. (2013). Martin & Mahalia: His Words, Her Song by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Bulletin of
the Center for Children's Books, 67(1), 46-46.

Bush, E. (2015).


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