Background

 **Background** __**MLK Jr__.**
 * Martin Luther King was born January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia


 * Attended Corzer Seminary in 1948 to become a minister. It was here where he learned about Gandhi and was both influenced and impressed by Gandhi's idea of non-violent protests.


 * In 1955, Rosa Parks standing up for her rights and refusing to give up her seat sent King into action. He organized a successful boycott of the city buses and became president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA).


 * On 28 August 1963, he stood up at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and told 250,000 supporters of his dream for racial equality.

__**The Civil War**__

After the Civil War America was a single, unified, industrialized nation, but it was not without its problems. The South was physically and economically devastated from the war and was left harboring a deep hatred towards the North. Andrew Johnson, a white supremacist and Vice President, took over Lincoln's office after his assassination in 1865. Johnson attempted to appease the Northerners by acting harsh on the Confederates, but his attempts were seen through when he pardonened 13,500 Confederates, allowing them to come back into power in the South. This allowed the old pre-Civil War social hierarchy to return, and by the 1900's blacks were forced to use separate drinking fountains, restrooms, sinks, hotels, restaurants, and swimming pools from whites. They were also forced to use separate entrances to theaters, and baseball parks and black children had to use separate playgrounds and go to separate schools.