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Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail Summary

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Martin Luther King, Jr. attempts to persuade clergymen to follow in his civil rights movement through exhibiting his knowledge over just and unjust laws, displaying peaceful behavior, and empathetic diction. King was very knowledgeable about laws and his right as a human. King stated laws in his letter to the clergymen, which displayed his credibility. He did not only state laws, he also stated just and unjust laws. King stated, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” (Paragraph 4). This drew the clergymen’s attention to King’s beliefs and possibly made them realize the flaws in the system. King also states, “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law…” (Paragraph 5). King stating their wrong doings, helped prove his point about just and unjust laws and about his wrongful jailing for taking a peaceful stand. …show more content…

In his letter to the clergymen, he claimed, “In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence.” (Paragraph 8). The law enforcement was completely aware that their actions were 100% peaceful, but yet he was still put into jail. During the civil rights movement, King did not participate in any violent behavior, despite being jailed for “violent behavior”. Even at the end of the letter, King wrote, “Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr.” (Paragraph 10). With King writing this at the end, he proved that despite terrible actions in the past and being wrongfully jailed, he is still willing to stay

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