1.
United States dollar
–
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
2.
Abraham Lincoln
–
Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and perhaps its greatest moral, constitutional, in doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up on the frontier in Kentucky. Largely self-educated, he became a lawyer in Illinois, a Whig Party leader, elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846, Lincoln promoted rapid modernization of the economy through banks, tariffs, and railroads. Reentering politics in 1854, he became a leader in building the new Republican Party, in 1860, Lincoln secured the Republican Party presidential nomination as a moderate from a swing state. Though he gained little support in the slaveholding states of the South. Subsequently, on April 12,1861, a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter inspired the North to enthusiastically rally behind the Union. Politically, Lincoln fought back by pitting his opponents against each other, by carefully planned political patronage and his Gettysburg Address became an iconic endorsement of the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Lincoln initially concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war and his primary goal was to reunite the nation. He suspended habeas corpus, leading to the ex parte Merryman decision. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including his most successful general, Lincoln tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another, until finally Grant succeeded. As the war progressed, his moves toward ending slavery included the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. On April 14,1865, five days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton launched a manhunt for Booth, and 12 days later on April 26, Lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as among the greatest U. S. presidents. Abraham Lincoln was born February 12,1809, the child of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk to its namesake of Hingham, samuels grandson and great-grandson began the familys western migration, which passed through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincolns paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln, moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Captain Lincoln was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, the presidents father
3.
Lincoln Memorial
–
The Lincoln Memorial is an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the end of the National Mall in Washington. Dedicated in 1922, it is one of several built to honor an American president. It has always been a major tourist attraction and since the 1930s has been a symbolic center focused on race relations and it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 15,1966. It is open to the public 24 hours a day, in 2007, it was ranked seventh on the List of Americas Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. Since 2010, approximately 6 million people visit the memorial annually, the first public memorial to Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D. C. was a statue by Lot Flannery erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after Lincolns assassination. Demands for a national memorial had been voiced since the time of Lincolns death. In 1867, Congress passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president, an American sculptor, Clark Mills, was chosen to design the monument. Subscriptions for the project were insufficient, the first five bills, proposed in the years 1901,1902, and 1908, met with defeat because of opposition from Speaker Joe Cannon. The sixth bill, introduced on December 13,1910, passed, the Lincoln Memorial Commission had its first meeting the following year and U. S. President William H. Taft was chosen as the commissions president. Progress continued at a pace and by 1913 Congress had approved of the Commissions choice of design. There were questions regarding the commissions plan, many thought that architect Henry Bacons Greek temple design was far too ostentatious for a man of Lincolns humble character. Instead they proposed a simple log cabin shrine, the site too did not go unopposed. The recently reclaimed land in West Potomac Park was seen by many to be too swampy or too inaccessible. Other sites, such as Union Station, were put forth, furthermore, the Potomac Park site had already been designated in the McMillan Plan of 1901 to be the location of a future monument comparable to that of the Washington Monument. With Congressional approval and a $300,000 allocation, the project got underway, on February 12,1914, a dedication ceremony was conducted and the following month the actual construction began. Work progressed steadily according to schedule, some changes were made to the plan. The statue of Lincoln, originally designed to be 10 feet tall, was enlarged to 19 feet to prevent it from being overwhelmed by the huge chamber
4.
President of the United States
–
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
5.
Federal Reserve Note
–
Federal Reserve Notes, also United States banknotes or U. S. banknotes, are the banknotes currently used in the United States of America. Denominated in United States dollars, Federal Reserve Notes are printed by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing on paper made by Crane & Co. of Dalton, Federal Reserve Notes are the only type of U. S. banknote currently produced. The notes are then put into circulation by the Federal Reserve Banks, at which point they become liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks, Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender, with the words this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private printed on each note. They have replaced United States Notes, which were issued by the Treasury Department. Federal Reserve Notes are backed by the assets of the Federal Reserve Banks and these assets are generally Treasury securities which have been purchased by the Federal Reserve through its Federal Open Market Committee in a process called debt monetizing. This monetized debt can increase the supply, either with the issuance of new Federal Reserve Notes or with the creation of debt money. This increase in the base leads to a larger increase in the money supply through fractional-reserve banking as deposits are lent. Prior to centralized banking, each bank issued its own notes. The first institution with responsibilities of a bank in the U. S. was the First Bank of the United States. Its charter was not renewed in 1811, in 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was chartered, its charter was not renewed in 1836, after President Andrew Jackson campaigned heavily for its disestablishment. From 1837 to 1862, in the Free Banking Era there was no central bank. From 1862 to 1913, a system of banks was instituted by the 1863 National Banking Act. The first printed notes were Series 1914, in 1928, cost-cutting measures were taken to reduce the note to the size it is today. The authority of the Federal Reserve Banks to issue notes comes from the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, legally, they are liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks and obligations of the United States government. Although not issued by the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Notes carry the signature of the Treasurer of the United States, at the time of the Federal Reserves creation, the law provided for notes to be redeemed to the Treasury in gold or lawful money. The Emergency Banking Act of 1933 removed the gold obligation and authorized the Treasury to satisfy these redemption demands with current notes of equal face value, under the Bretton Woods system, although citizens could not possess gold, the federal government continued to maintain a stable international gold price. This system ended with the Nixon Shock of 1971, present-day Federal Reserve Notes are not backed by convertibility to any specific commodity, but only by the collateral assets that Federal Reserve Banks post in order to obtain them. Series 1914 FRN were the first of two large-size issues, denominations were $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 printed first with a red seal and then continued with a blue seal
6.
Yiddish
–
Yiddish is the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews. Yiddish is written with a fully vocalized alphabet based on the Hebrew script, the earliest surviving references date from the 12th century and call the language לשון־אַשכּנז or טײַטש, a variant of tiutsch, the contemporary name for Middle High German. Colloquially, the language is sometimes called מאַמע־לשון, distinguishing it from לשון־קדש, the term Yiddish, short for Yiddish-Teitsch, did not become the most frequently used designation in the literature until the 18th century. In the late 19th and into the 20th century the language was commonly called Jewish, especially in non-Jewish contexts. Modern Yiddish has two major forms, Eastern Yiddish is far more common today. It includes Southeastern, Mideastern, and Northeastern dialects, Eastern Yiddish differs from Western both by its far greater size and by the extensive inclusion of words of Slavic origin. Western Yiddish is divided into Southwestern, Midwestern, and Northwestern dialects, the term Yiddish is also used in the adjectival sense, synonymously with Jewish, to designate attributes of Ashkenazi culture. Prior to the Holocaust, there were over 10 million speakers of Yiddish, 85% of the Jews who died in the Holocaust were Yiddish speakers, assimilation following World War II further decreased the use of Yiddish both among survivors and Yiddish-speakers from other countries. However, the number of speakers is increasing in global Hasidic communities, the established view is that, as with other Jewish languages, Jews speaking distinct languages learned new co-territorial vernaculars, which they then Judaized. Exactly what German base lies behind the earliest form of Yiddish is disputed, both Weinreich and Solomon Birnbaum developed this model further in the mid-1950s. In Weinreichs view, this Old Yiddish substrate later bifurcated into two versions of the language, Western and Eastern Yiddish. They retained the Semitic vocabulary needed for religious purposes and created a Judeo-German form of speech, recent linguistic research has finessed, contested, or challenged the Weinreich model, providing alternative approaches to the origins of Yiddish. Some theorists argue that the fusion occurred with a Bavarian dialect base, the two main candidates for the germinal matrix of Yiddish, the Rhineland and Bavaria, are not necessarily incompatible. There may have been developments in the two regions, seeding the Western and Eastern dialects of Modern Yiddish. Dovid Katz proposes that Yiddish emerged from contact between speakers of High German and Aramaic-speaking Jews from the Middle East, wexlers model has met with little academic support, and strong critical challenges, especially among historical linguists. Alternative theories recognize the extent of Yiddishs Germanic vocabulary. Ashkenaz was centered on the Rhineland and the Palatinate, in what is now the westernmost part of Germany and its geographic extent did not coincide with the German principalities of the time, and it included northern France. Ashkenaz bordered on the inhabited by another distinctive Jewish cultural group, the Sephardim or Spanish Jews
7.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
–
The BEP does not produce coins, all coinage is produced by the United States Mint. With production facilities in Washington, DC, and Fort Worth, Texas, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has its origins in legislation enacted to help fund the Civil War. In July 1861, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue currency in lieu of coins due to the lack of funds needed to support the conflict. The paper notes were essentially government IOUs and were called Demand Notes because they were payable on demand in coin at certain Treasury facilities, at this time the government had no facility for the production of paper money so a private firm produced the Demand Notes in sheets of four. These sheets were then sent to the Treasury Department where dozens of clerks signed the notes and scores of workers cut the sheets, initially, the currency processing operations in the Treasury were not formally organized. For years, however, the operations were known by various semi-official labels, such as the Printing Bureau, Small Note Bureau, Currency Department. It was not until 1874 that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was officially recognized in legislation with a specific allocation of operating funds for fiscal year 1875. From almost the beginning of its operations, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing designed and printed a variety of products in addition to currency. As early as 1864, the offices which would become the BEP made passports for the State Department. Passports are now produced by the Government Publishing Office, other early items produced by the BEP included various government debt instruments, such as interest-bearing notes, refunding certificates, compound interest Treasury notes, and bonds. The production of stamps began in 1894, and for almost the next century the BEP was the sole producer of postage stamps in the country. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing officially took over production of stamps for the United States government in July 1894. Paper currency was produced on hand presses around 1918, utilizing plates capable of printing four notes per sheet. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing officially took over production of stamps for the United States government in July 1894. The first of the works printed by the BEP was placed on sale on July 18,1894, and by the end of the first year of stamp production, the BEP had printed and delivered more than 2.1 billion stamps. The United States Postal Service switched purely to private postage stamp printers in 2005, starting in 2011 the United States Postal Service in housed all postage stamp printing services. Plate capacity on power presses increased from four to eight notes per sheet in 1918 in order to greatly expanded production requirements related to World War I. Due to this reduction in size, the Bureau was able to convert from eight-note printing plates to twelve-note plates, the redesign effort came about for several reasons, chief among them a reduction in paper costs and improved counterfeit deterrence through better public recognition of currency features
8.
Mathew Brady
–
Mathew B. Brady was one of the first American photographers, best known for his scenes of the Civil War. He studied under inventor Samuel F. B, Morse, who pioneered the daguerreotype technique in America. Brady opened his own studio in New York in 1844, and photographed Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, when the Civil War started, his use of a mobile studio and darkroom enabled vivid battlefield photographs that brought home the reality of war to the public. Thousands of war scenes were captured, as well as portraits of generals, after the war, these pictures went out of fashion, and the government did not purchase the master-copies as he had anticipated. Brady’s fortunes declined sharply, and he died in debt, Brady was born on May 18,1822 in Warren County, New York near Lake George, the youngest of three children of Irish immigrant parents, Andrew and Samantha Julia Brady. He himself originally said that he was born in Ireland, at age 16, Brady moved to Saratoga, New York, where he met portrait painter William Page, and became Pages student. In 1839, the two traveled to Albany, New York, and then to New York City, where Brady continued to study painting with Page, and also with Pages former teacher, Samuel F. B. Morse. Morse had met Louis Jacques Daguerre in France in 1839, at first, Bradys involvement was limited to manufacturing leather cases that held daguerreotypes. But soon he became the center of the New York artistic colony that wished to study photography, Morse opened a studio and offered classes, Brady was one of the first students. In 1849, he opened a studio in Washington, D. C. where he met Juliet Handy, in 1850, Brady produced The Gallery of Illustrious Americans, a portrait collection of prominent contemporary figures. The album, which featured noteworthy images including the elderly Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage, was not financially rewarding but invited increased attention to Brady’s work, in 1856, Brady placed an ad in the New York Herald offering to produce photographs, ambrotypes and daguerreotypes. This inventive ad pioneered, in the USA, the use of typeface and fonts that were distinct from the text of the publication, at first, the effect of the Civil War on Bradys business was a brisk increase in sales of cartes de visite to departing soldiers. However, he was taken with the idea of documenting the war itself. He first applied to an old friend, General Winfield Scott, for permission to travel to the battle sites, Lincoln granted permission in 1861, with the proviso that Brady finance the project himself. His efforts to document the American Civil War on a grand scale by bringing his photographic studio onto the battlefields earned Brady his place in history, despite the dangers, financial risk, and discouragement by his friends, Brady was later quoted as saying I had to go. A spirit in my feet said Go, and I went and his first popular photographs of the conflict were at the First Battle of Bull Run, in which he got so close to the action that he barely avoided capture. While most of the time the battle had ceased before pictures were taken, Brady came under fire at the First Battle of Bull Run, Petersburg. He also employed Alexander Gardner, James Gardner, Timothy H. OSullivan, William Pywell, George N. Barnard, roche, and seventeen other men, each of whom was given a traveling darkroom, to go out and photograph scenes from the Civil War
9.
Great Seal of the United States
–
The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the U. S. federal government. The phrase is used both for the seal itself, and more generally for the design impressed upon it. The Great Seal was first used publicly in 1782, the obverse of the great seal is used as the national coat of arms of the United States. It is officially used on such as United States passports, military insignia, embassy placards. As a coat of arms, the design has official colors, since 1935, both sides of the Great Seal have appeared on the reverse of the one-dollar bill. The Seal of the President of the United States is directly based on the Great Seal, the design on the obverse of the seal is the coat of arms of the United States. The shield, though sometimes drawn incorrectly, has two differences from the American flag. First, it has no stars on the blue chief, second, unlike the American flag, the outermost stripes are white, not red, so as not to violate the heraldic rule of tincture. The supporter of the shield is an eagle with its wings outstretched. Although not specified by law, the branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives. The eagle has its head turned towards the branch, on its right side. In its beak, the eagle clutches a scroll with the motto E pluribus unum, over its head there appears a glory with 13 mullets on a blue field. In the current dies of the seal, the 13 stars above the eagle are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1. The 1782 resolution of Congress adopting the arms, still in force, legally blazoned the shield as Paleways of 13 pieces, argent and gules, a more technically proper blazon would have been argent, six pallets gules. But the phrase used was chosen to preserve the reference to the 13 original states, the 1782 resolution adopting the seal blazons the image on the reverse as A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith an eye in a triangle, surrounded by a glory, the pyramid is conventionally shown as consisting of 13 layers to refer to the 13 original states. The adopting resolution provides that it is inscribed on its base with the date MDCCLXXVI in Roman numerals, where the top of the pyramid should be, the Eye of Providence watches over it. Two mottos appear, Annuit cœptis signifies that Providence has approved of undertakings, Novus ordo seclorum, freely taken from Virgil, is Latin for a new order of the ages
10.
Jack Lew
–
Jacob Joseph Jack Lew is an American attorney who was the 76th United States Secretary of the Treasury, serving from 2013 to 2017. He served as the 25th White House Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2013, Lew previously served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton and Obama Administrations, and is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in New York City, Lew received his A. B. from Harvard College, Lew began his career as a legislative assistant to Representative Joe Moakley and as a senior policy adviser to former House Speaker Tip ONeill. Lew then worked as an attorney in practice before working as a deputy in Bostons office of management. In 1993, he work for the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President. After leaving the Clinton Administration, Lew worked as the Executive Vice President for Operations at New York University from 2001 to 2006, Lew then served as the first Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, from 2009 to 2010. On January 10,2013, Lew was nominated as the replacement for retiring Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, on February 27,2013, the Senate confirmed Lew for the position. He was sworn in the following day, Lew was born in New York City, the son of Ruth and Irving Lew. He attended New York City public schools, graduating from Forest Hills High School and his father was a lawyer and rare-book dealer who came to the United States from Poland as a child. Lew attended Carleton College in Minnesota for a year, where his faculty adviser was Paul Wellstone and he graduated from Harvard College in 1978 and the Georgetown University Law Center in 1983. He worked as an aide to Rep. Joe Moakley from 1974 to 1975, in 1979, he was a senior policy adviser to House Speaker Tip ONeill. Lew practiced as an attorney for five years as a partner at Van Ness Feldman and his practice dealt primarily with electric power generation. From February 1993 to 1994, Lew served as Special Assistant to the President under President Clinton, Lew was responsible for policy development and the drafting of the national service initiative and health care reform legislation. Lew left the White House in October 1994 to work as OMBs Executive Associate Director, from August 1995 until July 1998, Lew served as Deputy Director of OMB. There, Lew was chief operating officer responsible for management of a staff of 500. He had crosscutting responsibilities to coordinate Clinton administration efforts on budget and he frequently served as a member of the Administration negotiating team, including regarding the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. President Clinton nominated Lew to be Director of the OMB, and he served in that capacity until the end of the Clinton administration in January 2001. As OMB Director, Lew had the responsibility for the Clinton Administration’s policies on budget, management
11.
Martin Luther King Jr.
–
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, with the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, on October 14,1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, in the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D. C. to be called the Poor Peoples Campaign, Kings death was followed by riots in many U. S. cities. Ray, who fled the country, was arrested two months later at London Heathrow Airport, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, hundreds of streets in the U. S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, King was born on January 15,1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther, King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather, as well as African ancestry. King was a child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. His mother was an accomplished organist and choir leader, and she took him to various churches to sing and he received attention for singing I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus. King later became a member of the choir in his church. King said that his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen, King saw his fathers proud and fearless protests against segregation, such as King Sr. When King was a child, he befriended a boy whose father owned a business near his familys home. When the boys were six, they started school, King had to attend a school for African Americans, King lost his friend because the childs father no longer wanted the boys to play together. King suffered from depression throughout much of his life, in his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the racial humiliation that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South
12.
I Have a Dream
–
Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. the speech was a defining moment of the Civil Rights Movement. Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves in 1863, King observes that, one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme I have a dream, prompted by Mahalia Jacksons cry, Tell them about the dream. In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred. Jon Meacham writes that, With a single phrase, Martin Luther King Jr. joined Jefferson, the speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was partly intended to demonstrate support for the civil rights legislation proposed by President Kennedy in June. Martin Luther King and other leaders therefore agreed to keep their speeches calm, also, King originally designed his speech as a homage to Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address, timed to correspond with the 100-year centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. King had been preaching about dreams since 1960, when he gave a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called The Negro, King suggests that It may well be that the Negro is Gods instrument to save the soul of America. In 1961, he spoke of the Civil Rights Movement and student activists dream of equality—the American Dream, a dream as yet unfulfilled—in several national speeches and statements, and took the dream as the centerpiece for these speeches. On November 27,1962, King gave a speech at Booker T. Washington High School in Rocky Mount and that speech was longer than the version which he would eventually deliver from the Lincoln Memorial. And while parts of the text had been moved around, large portions were identical, after being rediscovered, the restored and digitized recording of the 1962 speech was presented to the public by the English department of North Carolina State University. Martin Luther King had also delivered a speech in Detroit, in June 1963, when he marched on Woodward Avenue with Walter Reuther and the Reverend C. L. Franklin. The March on Washington Speech, known as I Have a Dream Speech, has shown to have had several versions. It has no single version draft, but is an amalgamation of several drafts, little of this, and another Normalcy Speech, ended up in the final draft. A draft of Normalcy, Never Again is housed in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection of the Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, the focus on I have a dream comes through the speechs delivery. Toward the end of its delivery, noted African American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted to King from the crowd, Tell them about the dream, King departed from his prepared remarks and started preaching improvisationally, punctuating his points with I have a dream. The speech was drafted with the assistance of Stanley Levison and Clarence Benjamin Jones in Riverdale, March, a recording of Kings Cobo Hall speech was released by Detroits Gordy Records as an LP entitled The Great March To Freedom. Early in his speech, King alludes to Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address by saying Five score years ago, in reference to the abolition of slavery articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, King says, It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity
