Abraham Lincoln's Letter To Birmingham Jail Essay

Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr where two men with completely different life experiences who lived in different time periods. While their lives were 100 years apart, and they each held different positions and titles in society; they both worked for equality. Both of these great and historic individuals fought tirelessly to create social change in what we now recognize as human rights. Abraham Lincoln entered his second term as President with an inaugural speech on March 4th, 1865. It was short, and promised to continue to goal of his first term, while not directly said, there was almost an apologetic tone regarding the war, a war, that was not wanted, but was necessary to secure change. War, while unwanted by one side, and needed

Wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to his constituents. Like Lincoln the letter also had an apologetic tone. The letter offered reason, and logic for the following of some laws, while seeming to willfully disobeying others; “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” He reminded the clergymen, that what Hitler had done, had been considered Legal, while Hungarian freedom fighters aid of Jews, while moral, was illegal.

A theme between both the speech and the letter is the difference of “sides”. Lincoln spoke of the different parties in saying “both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.” King wrote about his surprise regarding his constituents’ opinions on his actions in Birmingham. While he had taken the path of nonviolence, and peaceful protests; The Birmingham police had reacted violently to peace.

Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. were both men of God. In both Abraham Lincolns speech and Martin Luther king Jr.’s letter, God, is referenced, Jesus is quoted. Examples of morals from the bible are given. Lincoln quotes Jesus in the context of judgement. And Martin Luther King gives examples from the bible of times in which standing up against unjust laws, was just and moral, and was rewarded by God (Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abraham Lincoln was a President with a country at war with itself. There was loss of life, on both sides of the fight. “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged peaceful protests, and even held “workshops” on how to respond to being acted on with violence and arrest, while peacefully protesting.

In Abraham Lincoln’s speech, the more notable part that stood out was when he stated “With malice toward none; with charity for all: with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds.” There was not an interest to see citizens die, there was a need to heal the nation. Unfortunately, war was the vehicle towards accomplishing this.

In Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter the most impactful line is “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” What happens in one place, will be heard of in another, this places an idea, and the idea easily becomes reality. Injustice spreads like cancer, it desensitizes and normalizes from one place to another. The peaceful way in which Martin Luther King Jr. and his allies used in attempts to bring change to the world, is an example for all to