Essay | Martin Luther King Jr.'s Peaceful Movement

Martin Luther King jr. chose to pursue Civil Rights through peaceful means because he had seen the success such methods had reaped and thought it appropriate for the Negro situation. During his studies, King had become enthralled in the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, who used non-violent civil disobedience against the British in India to successfully gain independence. King read many books on Gandhi. "As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns on non-violent resistance."(King) King believed the success achieved by Gandhi could be replicated in America to gain Civil Rights. The fact that King was a devout Christian might have also contributed to his use of non-violent protest to gain rights. He was a Minister in the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and came from a strong Christian background. For him to provoke violence while preaching peace in his church would have been hypocritical. The Negroes, if they were...
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