On the 28th of August in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC known as his "I Have a Dream" speech. In this speech, he spoke on how the black people of our nation, at that time, were not free due to mass segregation and discrimination. He emphasizes on how, despite America proclaiming equal liberty for all, as well as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation, America was not upholding its promises. He then went on to stress how it was now time for these black people to stand up and gain the rights they were promised. These injustices were a major part of his famous dream that he spoke on.

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream speech he saw all of those false promises change as it regarded to black people. Instead of white people being worth more than blacks, he saw them as equal, and instead of whites not being able to eat with blacks, he saw them eating and flourishing together. He also saw a world where black people wouldn't be judged simply because they were black; he saw a world where black children and white children could come together instead. If that dream were to come true, according to King whites and blacks would then be able to work, pray, struggle, go to jail, and stand up for freedom together. Whenever that day comes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream will have come true.

While King's dream will go down in history as one of the best speeches of all time, there are still secondary sources you can draw opinions from that can influence or even change your understanding of his dream. We were not living during Dr. Martin Luther King's time period so we wouldn't be able to give a full account of his speech, yet only base an opinion off of what we see and know now. John Lewis was a student leader of Dr. King's march on Lincoln memorial and, based on his account of the famous speech, it "was not nearly as powerful as many I heard him make". This may hold true to some extent, but it may not seem true to people who view or read his speech now because it is taught to be the most powerful speech of all time. Seeing as though John Lewis later became a congressman, his account may contain some bias as well. Unless you were there for all of Dr. Kings speeches, you can't give a 100% accurate account of how well or poor this speech was.

Regardless of how you feel about King's speech, there is no argument that his speech enlightened thousands, if not millions, of people. He not only changed America as we see it today but also improved the race relations between all of the diverse races we now see in America, not just blacks. Dr. King may have been just speaking up for black people at the time, but his overall goal was to spread his ideology that no one should be held down by their oppressors. All people should come together and work as one instead of working against each other. Once that happens, his dream will have come true not only in America, but the in world, to become a better place as we know it.

Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation is a historical event that influenced King's reasoning for this famous speech. The emancipation proclamation was a presidential proclamation that declared all slaves in the south were now free. This proclamation was issued on January 1st, 1863 and applied to the confederate states Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. King and thousands of his followers felt as though slavery had been abolished in 1863, yet there were still signs of slavery, injustice, and inequality still very apparent in our country. Although King did not take the violent approach like his counterparts may have, his march on was still just as, if not more, effective in calling for change.

Another historical event that influenced King's speech was the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was created in the summer of 1776 and stated that all men were "created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Dr. Martin Luther King and his followers felt as though this was not being upheld as well. During the Civil Rights Era that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived through, whites were not seen as equal to blacks and they obtained privileges that blacks at that time would've never imagined having. King's speech emphasized the fact that he wanted those inequalities to change so that black kids and white kids could grow up together in this country and not grow up with hatred towards the opposite race.

It is also evident that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech was in response to the inequalities that colored people faced. He knew that what was going on, at that time, was not fair, along with his followers no matter their race. The 250,000 or more people that he addressed in Washington that day were not all black, but people of all races. What made his speech so powerful was that he spoke to our whole nation, no matter their race or beliefs and whether you agreed with him or not, he was so powerful that you couldn't ignore what he was saying. All of his followers believed what he believed in and that was peace and equality for all people no matter the skin color.

This speech also had tangible effects from the very beginning to the end. In King's speech he said, "one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." This is literally what he wanted, dreamed, and hoped for. He wanted black's and white's to be able to touch one another with a sense of continuity instead of hatred. He also spoke on how he had a dream that one day "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be plain and the crooked places will be made straight." In doing that he makes reference to the bible verse Isaiah 40:4 which depicts what we can expect when the Kingdom of God is brought back to earth. King's speech as well as his values and morals are primarily based on his theology and religion, but the way he presents it to his followers doesn't make him come of as that being his primary reason for wanting America to be the way he see's it in his dream.

After King's speech, people responded in numbers like never seen before. Colored people began to protest in a non-violent fashion just like he suggested, instead of protesting with violence and aggression like they had been. Black's and white's began to come together and peacefully protest instead of hating each other like they had been so accustom of doing. In the south it was hard for white southerners to see the way King saw but some, not all, put their pride to the side and began to do what was best for their nation and not just what was best for them in hope for better days. It was not going to be instant, it was going to take a lot of time and peaceful protesting but with everyone on a more even playing field, it wouldn't take long for the people in position to stop segregation.

In closing, King's speech was just a fraction of the many events that were taking place during this major civil right's era, which was occuring in the background of his speech. Rosa Parks not leaving her seat shows how she was tired of being racially profiled on public transportation. The famous court case, Brown vs. Board of Education, shows how black student's in Virginia were tired of being racially profiled due to the highly segregated public education system. If King's dream were to come true, and his followers rose up, everyone would be able to live a better life and pursue the American dream that our founding fathers had set out for us.

