The most famous speech of the 1900’s was given by a man named Martin Luther King Jr. In that speech he outlined how he would like to see the world, especially the United States, abolish racism. He wanted to see a world where everyone was treated equally. Toward the end of the speech Reverend King used the phrase “I have a dream”. Those four words may have become some of the most famous words ever spoken. In his speech, he repeated those four words eight times.

Martin Luther King’s speech was given from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The memorial was chosen for a very good reason. 100 years and 8 months earlier on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This executive order began the move to abolish all slavery in the United States. An executive order is an order given by the President of the United States that allows something to go into effect right away. Congress still has to vote on it to make it a law. On January 31, 1865, the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution passed making slavery illegal. Although slavery was illegal after 1865, people of African American descent were still treated differently because of the color of their skin.

100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African American citizens of the United States still did not have the same rights that other citizens had. African American citizens were not allowed to eat at some restaurants. They had to sit at the back of the bus. There were bathrooms for white people and black people. Some movie theaters wouldn’t let them in at all and others would let them in but just when there weren’t any other people there. There were even towns that would not allow African Americans to live or go to school there. Things in the United States were very much divided and many people felt like this was wrong. If slavery ended 100 years ago why were people still treated so differently? These things were unjust and people had just had enough. People felt it was time for everyone to be treated equally.

This is why people chose to go to Washington D.C. on the day when that famous speech was given. They hoped that gathering together peacefully in the nation's capital would convince President John F. Kennedy to support the Civil Rights Act. More than 250,000 people were at the Lincoln Memorial that day.  The Civil Rights Act was supported by President Kennedy but he was assassinated in 1963. The following year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill into law. The law helped. It did make things better but you can’t change the way people think by signing a piece of paper.

Martin Luther King Jr. knew there was more work to be done and he led the civil rights movement in the United States for another four years.  On the 4th of April 1968 he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King's wife, continued with his work fighting for civil rights. It was her persistence, along with many others, that led President Ronald Reagan to sign a law making Martin Luther King Day a national holiday. Dr. King’s birthday is January 15th but the law says the holiday is the third Monday of January each year.