Civil Rights Past and Present
Civil Rights Past and Present In 1776, the Founding Fathers outlined the framework on which this new country should be built on, freedom and the idea that all men are created equal. However at the time the men being referred to were white land owners. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln redefined the definition of all men referred to in the Declaration of Independence to include the slaves. In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. is addressing the preverbal cashing of the check that Lincoln wrote 100 years before. Sojourner Truth called for women to be included into the elite group of the free and equal in the United States. And today the criteria to be deserving of these freedoms and rights are still under constant debate.
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (Lincoln) In the opening lines of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln was referring to the Declaration of Independence that the Founding Fathers wrote in 1776 outlining the goals and precedent to move forward as a new nation with. Lincoln is essentially doing the same thing but extending the right of freedom to slaves as well as all other citizens. Lincoln called for a birth of a new nation, much like the founding fathers were doing when forming this country. Lincoln said in his address, “the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,” little did he know his words would be studied throughout history and referred to by Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights activist, 100 years later in the ongoing battle for freedom and equality.
“Four score years ago, a great American, in whore symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” (King) Martin Luther King Jr. 100 years after Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, is still fighting for the same freedoms and equality he proclaimed. Lincoln may have
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (Lincoln) In the opening lines of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln was referring to the Declaration of Independence that the Founding Fathers wrote in 1776 outlining the goals and precedent to move forward as a new nation with. Lincoln is essentially doing the same thing but extending the right of freedom to slaves as well as all other citizens. Lincoln called for a birth of a new nation, much like the founding fathers were doing when forming this country. Lincoln said in his address, “the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,” little did he know his words would be studied throughout history and referred to by Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights activist, 100 years later in the ongoing battle for freedom and equality.
“Four score years ago, a great American, in whore symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” (King) Martin Luther King Jr. 100 years after Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, is still fighting for the same freedoms and equality he proclaimed. Lincoln may have