I Have A Dream - abolition de l'esclavage (texte en anglais)

In 1863, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln published the emancipation proclamation and so

slavery was abolished. Even after emancipation, the slaves’ descendent had to endure state-sanctioned

segregation and inequality which is the Jim Crow Era. By the 1950s, after fighting through two world

wars and struggling through the Depression, many African Americans had had enough of running in

place. The result was a series of events that added up to the beginning of the civil rights movement. In

August of 1963 King organized the massive «March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom», in which

some 200,000 people participated. In his speech to the demonstrators and, via television, to the nation he

presented his visions of a future society where his children «will not be judged by the color of their skin

but by the content of their character». Not only does his speech resonate with images from Jefferson’s

Declaration on Independence and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, it draws heavily on traditions from

within the black church at the same time.

The origin of the American Dream is the dream of the first emigrants the Pilgrim Fathers who

arrived on the Mayflower in 1621. It was a dream of freedom, equality, and liberty. The Baptist wished

the Blacks could have access to equality of rights and freedom. He wished they could start from scratch.

He wished the Blacks could climb up the social ladder; the Blacks were locked out of the American.

After a 2 year war against the British and the declaration of Independence, King Jr wanted to show that

if Americans won their independence from the British, the Blacks haven’t yet won their independence

from the Whites. He hoped the Blacks and the Whites could be on an equal footing, they could work

together, struggle together, jail together. Not only did he wish equality but also the same obligations and

rights. In his speech Martin Luther King, Jr also associates Jews, gentiles, Catholics, Protestants; not

only did he mention southern states but also northern states because he aimed at gathering all the people of

America. King’s faith in America and its people leads him to convey that the nation can triumph over its

faults and prompt justice and equality for all races, which is right. During his speech we can hear people

screaming, applauding, cheering, while they are listening to the speech. They feel overjoyed, thrilled. The

more heated atmosphere gets the more MLK remains in command although the audience is electrified, the

leader always holds them. The future is present throughout the whole speech. King’s strong optimism is

based on his faith in people and his faith in brotherhood. So, he speaks to the crowd as a priest addressing the

congregation

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