1. Martin Luther King, Jr. Study Guide

2. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born Jan. 15, 1929.
Little Martin was so smart he skipped several grades and began college at 15. He graduated from college and went on to receive his doctorate in theology.

3. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A doctorate is the highest degree given by a university.
After receiving his
doctorate, King was
referred to as
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

4. Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious truth.

5. King was a minister and the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in America.

6. He was married and the father of four children.

7. non-violent protest, such as sit-ins and marches.
King studied the ways of India’s Gandhi and preached about
non-violent protest, such as sit-ins and marches.

8. King wanted his followers to use passive resistance to help black people in their struggle for freedom and equality.

9. An example of passive resistance, in which King’s followers used peaceful protests instead of violence, was the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.

10. A boycott means to join with others and refuse to buy, sell, or use something or to have any dealings with someone.

11. Rosa Parks was arrested when she refused to give her seat on the bus to a white man.

12. 50,000 black residents, who were forced to sit in the back of the bus,
Montgomery’s
50,000 black residents,
who were forced to sit
in the back of the bus,
refused to ride until
they could sit
anywhere on the bus.

13. The boycott continued for more than a year until finally King and his followers won.

14. King’s goal was to end segregation in everyday life.

15. Segregation is the practice of forcing people of different racial groups to live apart from each other, to go to separate schools, to use separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, etc.

16. In the second film, the narrator tells us that the hoses used against King’s followers had 700 pounds of water pressure, enough to strip the bark off a tree.

17. He gave the speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
In 1963, Dr. King led a massive (huge) march on Washington, D.C., where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
He gave the speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

19. In 1964, Dr. King received
the Nobel Peace Prize for
his work to end racial
segregation and racial
discrimination through
civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

20. Hours after telling an audience that he thought he might not live much longer, his fears were realized. He was fatally shot outside a motel room.

21. Dr. Martin Luther King died in 1968.
He was only 39.
He was shot by an assassin.

22. An assassin is a murderer, especially one who kills an important person, usually for political reasons.

23. by making his birthday a holiday. The other two men were
King was only the third American to be honored in the United States
by making his birthday a holiday.
The other two men were
George Washington and
Abraham Lincoln.