There was quite a bit going on in the world during Martin Luther King Jr.'s time, and a lot of it helped to shape his speeches and essays. "The World House" is a perfect example of an essay being shaped by outside influences because it was written in 1967, a year in a very tumultuous decade for the United States and the world. During the 1960s, the civil rights movement was in full swing, the cold war was heating up, a US president had been assassinated, and man was getting ready to go to the moon. While there was never any direct fighting between the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war, there were quite a few proxy wars, one of which was Vietnam. During the time that MLK wrote this essay, American involvement in Vietnam was ramping up, there was rioting throughout American cities that summer, and the first African American supreme court justice, Thurgood Marshall, was appointed. Stokely Carmichael's "Black Power" was also written around this time, and it called for a slightly more militant approach to gain equal rights. Knowing this information can help the reader better understand some of the points that King makes and why he makes those points, as well as draw comparisons between "The World House" and "Black Power.".

Throughout "The World House," King stresses that war does no good and that mankind must make peace with each other, especially in today's global world. Normally, the reader might think it odd for Dr. King to be stressing something seemingly unrelated to war in an essay about equal rights for African Americans, but if the reader looks at who was fighting the Vietnam War, a lot of the soldiers were African Americans. Yes, there was a draft during a war that included any able-bodied male older than 18 no matter the race, but when African Americans were selected to go fight, they were often put on the front lines to die first. In the case of the Vietnam War, African Americans were forced to fight and die for their country even though their country did not treat them like an equal human being. When the reader takes that into account while reading Dr. King's thoughts on war, it becomes clear why he is so vehemently opposed to it. He is also opposed to the draft almost as much as the war itself because he does not think anyone, regardless of race, should be forced to fight in a war that is completely unnecessary. To Dr. King, the draft is essentially taking away Americans' freedom to choose. Ultimately, the important point that Dr. King seems to be making is that African Americans should not be sent off to die for a country that does not care for them.

 Also, relating to the fact that African Americans lived in a country that did not care about them, numerous riots occurred throughout many American cities in the summer of 1967, most of which were about race or war. The riots were particularly bad in Detroit, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey. According to the History Channel, on July 23, 1967, a bar on 12th Street in Detroit was hosting Vietnam veterans; the bar was known for participating in illegal activities in the past, so the police happened to come on the night the veterans were there. Furthermore, the bar was located in an overflowing African American community with sub-par living conditions, and the residents of that area viewed the predominately white police force as an occupying army (History.com staff). By the end of the riots (requiring 7,000 troops to stop it), "43 people were dead, 342 injured, and nearly 1,400 buildings had been burned" (History.com staff). As for the rioting in Newark, it began when white police officers pulled over, arrested, and badly beat an African American man, according to National Public Radio. In "The World House," King stresses the fact that wealthy nations and individuals need to do more to help end poverty because there is no reason it should exist. The only reason it does exist is become one group of people exploited another to become wealthier. That being said, these riots throughout the United States in the summer of 1967 took place in African American neighborhoods that were mostly poor and filled with public housing, and after becoming tired of living in such terrible conditions for years, it only took one small spark to ignite the flame.

In the essay, King avoids calling on anyone one specific person or entity to do something, but it becomes obvious through reading it that he expects more from military leaders, politicians, as well as wealthy, influential individuals. He definitely appears to be asking the president and military leaders to put an end to the brutal Vietnam War because it was brutal to not only American troops, but innocent Vietnamese citizens as well. Additionally, King asks for wealthy western nations of Europe and North America to put 1-2% of their GDP to ending poverty and it would make a significant impact over the decades to follow. While King directly calls on nations to contribute to ending poverty, he also implies that it is not just countries as a whole that should do something. Instead, anyone who has the time and/or money should help to end poverty in any way they can. Rather than looking at the world as different countries and different people, King implies that people should begin to look at others as humans, regardless of country, race, or beliefs.

While the text did not bring immediate change, the people that read it at the time were able to slowly spread King's message and become more active in fighting for peace and equality. Dr. King knew that this essay would not produce large scale changes immediately, and that is why he continued his civil rights activism all the way until his assassination. In his eyes, there was always more work to be done.` That being said, in 1970, the US National Guard shot and killed four unarmed students at Kent State University who were protesting America's involvement in Vietnam. Also, Martin Luther King Jr. wanted prominent figures to voice their disdain with the war, and one of the biggest ones to do so was Muhammad Ali, the world-famous boxer. According to History.com, Ali declared himself a "conscientious objector," and he was put in prison and banned from boxing for three years. When Ali refused to fight in the war, it showed that the draft affected every American, no matter how famous, and that the US government was willing to go to great lengths just to keep the supply of troops flowing, imprisoning anyone who did not want to go. On the flip side, Muhammad Ali being arrested was good for King's effort because it meant that a prominent figure besides him had spoken out against the war, therefore making more people aware of the problem and critical of the government.

Overall, outside factors that were happening during the time that King wrote the essay definitely influenced what he said in it. If there were no external influences, then the subject would have been so unrelated and disconnected; it is impossible for his essay to be written without observing the world's happenings. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote extensively about poverty because many African Americans in the United States, as well as in the rest of the world, were living in terrible, overcrowded conditions, unable to get out because western society had stacked the odds against them. Additionally, Dr. King, tries to make the audience aware of the problem that existed with the Vietnam War and the draft, as well as who was dying. African American deaths in the war were disproportionately higher than the number of deaths among white units, primarily because African American units were purposely sent on the bloodiest missions with the lowest chance of success. Lastly, Martin Luther King Jr. is calling on the people who are in positions of influence and power to do something to change society. In King's eyes, the average black man living in the ghetto does not have the power to change anything because society will just step all over him and sweep it under the rug. For King, national leaders have to do more to change things.

