Letter From Birmingham Jail Persuasive Speech

I would like to begin, sirs, by announcing; I am not the first with these thoughts. Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine – only a few of the men that share the same notion. It is true; I do not hold the reputation of these men. Nonetheless, I have been involved in American Politics for the past decade . We have passed the simple point of peace. We have tried many a ways to end this peacefully. Our pleas, petitions, protests – all flouted at the will of the King. Is what we ask, to be treated equal and fair, too much to grant? Too much for our people, yet easy enough to give to our northern brethren? I should say not. But here we are. We have been treated immorally – first in our markets, then in our governing bodies, in our homes,

Taxation without representation. The king has repeatedly denied our representation in Parliament, then furthered the insult by taxing what is dear to our culture. Closing ports. Our Boston port was closed and relocated with no attention paid to the consequences such a move could have on the lives that rely on that same port. Usurped courts, governments, and land. They tried to destroy Boston, Massachusetts. They initiated their own military government of a Thomas Gage, and starved the city of their right to gather. As if we will break so easily. But the King, never one for mercy, did not just stop there. Our northern neighbors were reward at our expense. Any and all Colonist trade and land from the Aboriginal territory south of Quebec was halted and handed to Quebec. However the King is too cruel the man to stop there. He granted them the religious freedom we have been yearning for since 1607. Intolerable is too generous a word. Our once great Mother land has betrayed us too deeply to simply forgive. No. This is a time not for peace but for action . We need to stop our passive toleration of their brutal acts and in turn bear arms for the God given rights Britain dears to deny. If we shall be oppressed, we shall stand for liberty. If we stand for liberty, we shall never be