The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 1963
Civil rights activists pressured President Kennedy to sign a federal civil rights bill to end legal discrimination across the South. Dr. King was aware that building public and political support for the bill would not be easy. SCLC leaders, like Bayard Rustin, advocated a march on Washington. Organizers intended for the march to bring attention to the demands to end segregation and economic injustice and secure voting and civil rights. It is estimated that over 250,000 individuals participated in the march. The three-hour event started with a mile-long march on the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, where several key civil rights figures and entertainers gave speeches and performed. However, it was Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech that was considered one of the most memorable speeches of the evening.
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MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now.
Play the video to listen to an excerpt from King's speech. Then, click the highlighting activity to read the excerpt and highlight the lines that directly reference the Declaration of Independence. Use the information from the speech to complete the chart below.
Take Notes
Click My Work to view your highlights from the excerpt. Use those highlights to answer the following questions.
