Do you agree that Martin Luther King was the most important factor in helping blacks gain more civil rights in the 1960s?

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed by Lyndon B Johnson, giving black people civil rights for the first time. This was followed by the Voting Bill in 1965, an act which scrapped the literacy tests given to blacks, and gave all black people the right to vote. Many things led up to these acts, such as the work of Martin Luther King, various protest groups and the experiences of many black Americans during the Second World War.

Martin Luther King was born on 15th January 1929, the son of a preacher man and a teacher, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a passionate, charismatic man, and was no doubt influenced by the Baptist Church that he grew up with. Whilst a college, Martin Luther King was introduced to the work and ideas of Mahatma Ghandi, another influence on his ideas for peaceful protest. Throughout much of the world outside America, Martin Luther King was seen as a hero and a figurehead for change, however in the eyes of many racist Americans from the southern states, he was nothing more than a trouble maker and someone to be put down.

One of the first civil rights groups Martin Luther King was involved with was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). By the time he became involved, he was a preacher, and was named president of the SCLC, comprised entirely of black ministers. As part of this group he travelled 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches in 1957 alone. This vast undertaking meant he spread his message to thousands of black people, encouraging them to join his peaceful protests and call for change. The huge numbers he got through to added great momentum to the civil rights movement. In 1963, Martin Luther King was arrested and wrote a letter from his jail in Alabama which became one of the greatest symbols of the civil rights movement. The letter called for immediate change, and talked of the horrific lynchings and mobs that black people had faced courtesy of the Ku Klux Klan. Later in the same year, he led a march to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, attended by around 250,000 people, which climaxed in his making arguably his greatest speech - the "I Have a Dream speech". He spoke in it of how the constitution stated that "every man is created equal" yet blacks were seen as lower people. He spoke of his dreams for the future, and how he hoped that the next generation would live in a world where blacks and whites were equal. It captured the imagination of everyone who heard it, and brought about a new mood for change. Together with his letter from an Alabama jail, the "I Have a Dream" speech got through to normal black people, and persuaded them to join the cause. The speech would also have been heard by John F. Kennedy, and the poignant message of the speech would have got through to him, a factor in his decision to initiate the Civil Rights Act.

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Martin Luther King also led numerous marches through Selma and Montgomery in Alabama. In Selma, only 24% of the black population were registered to vote, and the sheriff was the notoriously racist Jim Clark. King organised a march for the 7th March 1965, to go from Selma to Montgomery. The authorities banned the march, but around 700 people went ahead with it (King did not go along). They were brutally attacked, and the media called the event "Bloody Sunday". The march was rearranged for the 11th, but turned back after halfway, to avoid further violence. Although the compromise angered more radical activists, had there been more violence, public opinion might have turned against the blacks, and made President Lyndon B. Johnson reluctant to pass the Voting Bill of the same year. It also had a huge impact because of the discussion of the right to protest. It was eventually ruled that by attacking the protesters, the police had broken the law.

Martin Luther King was also involved in several other protests, among the most famous of these is the Montgomery bus boycotts, begun after Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give up her seat to a white person, and she was arrested. Hundreds of black people joined in the demonstration, nearly sending the bus company out of business. Instead of travelling by bus, people organised car pools, or walked. The boycotts were very successful, and the Supreme Court ruled that the bus laws stating that blacks must give up their seats to whites were unconstitutional - this was one of the first times the Supreme Court had ever ruled in favour of black people, and shows how attitudes were changing, due to Martin Luther King.

Both JFK and LBJ listened to the words of Martin Luther King, and were persuaded by his calm, reasoned arguments for equality. They may have only listened to what he had to say in order to gain more votes, or they might truly have believed in the fight for equality. King's impact can clearly be seen with the Presidents, as the acts were only passed after his involvement in the civil rights movement, and his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. It may be that the presidents were embarrassed by their failure to take much notice of King previously, but, whether their interest was genuine or not, as presidents of the USA, they were able to get both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Bill through congress, allowing hundreds of thousands of black Americans civil rights.

Martin Luther King led a vast movement for change in America. Without him, the more extreme groups would have taken over, and their violent campaign would have done more harm than good for black people. His calm protests caught the attention of those with sufficient power to make a difference, and he can be credited with having the greatest input for getting black people in America the right to vote, and other civil rights. He was not the only man working to get black people civil rights however - there were numerous other groups working to achieve the same thing.

Before King's involvement, one of the best known groups was the Universal Negro Improvement Association - or the Back to Africa movement, led by Marcus Garvey. He felt that if black people could not be accepted in America, they should all return to their homeland of Africa, to live in equality, among other black people. Although many dismissed Garvey's ideas as fanciful, his slogans, like, "Black is beautiful" made people proud of their skin colour, and although he was arrested and deported, he was able to add to the growing feeling of belonging amongst the black community.

A slightly less extreme group was the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, set up in the 1900s by Web DuBois. It had a huge number of members, who campaigned for an end to the Jim Crow laws and laws against lynching. They were unable to get any laws passed in their favour, although the numbers of lynchings did go down. Like UNIA, the NAACP made black people feel closer together, and added to the sense of discontent felt by many at the inequality between blacks and whites.

Unlike the earlier, peaceful movements, Nation of Islam was a violent organisation campaigning for change in America. Led by Elijah Muhammed and Malcom X, one of the most famous members was Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammed Ali. They wanted to see blacks create their own state in the USA, and were not averse to the use of force - if necessary. They attracted many black Americans, disillusioned by the "American Dream". Many saw them as overly extreme however, and they had little real success, although the many young people they attracted meant that they were able to spread the civil rights message, and brought young blacks together. Their violent methods of protest may have in fact been detrimental to the movement, because leaders would not want to be seen as giving in to terrorism, in case it encouraged others.

Smaller groups also arranged demonstrations. One of these was named the "Freedom Rides". The bus laws stated that whites should sit at the front of the buses, and blacks in the back - with blacks required to give up their seats to whites. Both black and white people took part in the freedom rides, sitting at "the wrong ends" of the buses. They were attempting to get desegregation on long distance buses. Whilst the freedom rides got some attention, finally getting a law passed in 1961, months after the first protest, they contributed little to the whole cicil rights movement. It does however show that King was not the only person using peaceful methods to make a stand.

In Little Rock, the state capital of Arkansas, integration in the school system was met with considerable resistance. Even after the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka case in 1952, and the supreme court's ruling in 1954, stating that southern states should set up integrated schools, the schools of Arkansas were still segregated. In 1957, 9 black students were allowed to attend a previously all white school, after the school was ordered to let them in. On the children's first day they were met with crowds of people trying to stop them getting in. at first, the state governor made troops prevent them from attending, claiming to be concerned for their safety. Having heard about this, the President ordered the army to make sure the children could attend school, and there were no more racial incidents. Whilst the Little Rock 9 did not contribute to the movement itself, the fact that the President got involved showed that already things were changing, in the first years of Martin Luther King's campaign, as well as demonstrating how vital the support of the president was - nothing could happen without his support.

Black experiences during the Second World War also had a huge contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. These experiences boosted the civil rights movement, and really got it going. Whilst stationed in England and France, black soldiers were amazed by the freedom they experienced. They were allowed to eat and drink alongside whites; to dance with white women and to be treated as equals to whites. This gave them a taste of what life could be like. They realised, many for the first time, that they were just as good as any white person, and that it wasn't like it was in America everywhere. The irony of what they were fighting against was not lost on the black soldiers either. They were told that Hitler's brand of facist racism was evil, that basing your opinions of a person on their race was ridiculous, and that this was why the Germans must be beaten, yet they received the racist treatment that was called evil in their own country. The experiences of black people in World War Two was very important to the civil rights campaign. If they had not seen what life could be like in a fairer society then the movement is unlikely to have had anywhere near as much support. It contributed greatly to the sense of black awareness already being built by organisations like the NAACP and UNIA, allowing King to lead a defined group of people who were proud to be black. If he had needed to lead smaller groups of people in communities, its likely he'd have taken much longer to achieve his aims.

In conclusion, I think Martin Luther King was the most important factor in helping black gain more civil rights in the 1960s. He gave black people a leader to follow, and a feeling of togetherness within the black communtiy. The media, in most of the world, loved him, ensuring his support all round the world. He was the figurehead of the movement, a charismatic man capable of persuading presidents and many others that civil rights for blacks were important, and racism was wrong. However it is something he could not have done alone. One man could not have persuaded people that they didn't have to put up with racism, and things were different elsewhere, in the same way that World War Two did. If King has been the first to call for change, he would have had similar effects to the first groups, and been able to make a few changes, and make blacks feel united. He had no power over the laws either. The presidents' support was necessary for anything to become truly different. Overall with aid from the numerous black groups, and with the huge numbers of other protests, his brilliant oration and ability to be a forceful movement for change he was probably the most important factor in black people gaining more civil rights in the '60s

Peer Reviews

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lordharvey

9th of Jul 2012

Quality of writing

The spelling, grammar and punctuation in the essay is fairly strong, which is good as it means there is no confusion over what the student is trying to say, and the essay does not come across rushed. However, the student doesn't need to start each of the first few paragraphs with 'Martin Luther King was... Martin Luther King also...' - it is more convenient to say 'King was... King also...', and it saves time that the student could otherwise spend analysing.

Level of analysis

This student clearly has strong factual knowledge of the events that led to black civil rights in the USA, and they use accurate knowledge, such as references to the Civil Rights Act, which shows that they have the knowledge to back up their statements rather than making assertions they can't prove. The student also makes good use of statistics, such as '...made 208 speeches in 1957 alone', which is good as it shows they have the depth of knowledge to see that this is a high number of speeches to make. This is better than saying something less specific such as 'he made a lot of speeches.' However, the student needs to be careful that they get their evidence as accurate as possible: for example, they refer to a 'Voting Bill of 1965', but it was actually called the Voting Rights Act, which is crucial because a Bill is a potential law that hasn't yet passed while an Act is one that has passed, so the examiner might be led to believe that this student isn't sure about what became law and what didn't. Also, at times the student uses too much evidence - for example, the references to Martin Luther King's biography (such as 'Martin Luther King was born on 15th January 1929') don't go towards explaining how he helped to achieve civil rights. A good rule to have is 'always use evidence, but only when it answers the question'. The conclusion to the essay is excellent as it summarises the argument that has been made and directly answers the question - 'However it is something he could not have done alone'. This shows that the student has the ability to look back over what they have written and use their understanding to reach a judgement. The judgements throughout the essay are generally of a similar standard, but the student should be careful to avoid giving simple answers to what was a very complex problem: for example, 'they may have only listened to what he had to say in order to gain more votes' is good as it considers alternative interpretations, but supporting civil rights was not necessarily a vote winner and might have in fact been a vote loser because it was a very controversial idea at the time.

Response to question

This is a good essay that addresses several alternative interpretations but would benefit from more accurate and relevant factual evidence. The student responds very well to the question by addressing several factors that explain the advance of civil rights. By addressing the factor named in the question - Martin Luther King - first, the student is showing that they have enough knowledge to directly answer the question set. By then going on to address other factors - such as the Second World War - the student is showing they are thinking widely and are not being narrow minded and focusing on one particular interpretation. One minor improvement the student could make could be to add in words like 'However...' at the start of any new paragraph that introduces a new possible factor. This would reiterate to the examiner that the student is constantly thinking about the need to consider alternative interpretations.

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