The United States of America was founded with the belief that all men are created equal, however segregation and racism divided our nation. In 1861, a bitter war broke out in the United States, threatening to tear the country apart. During the Civil War, which lasted until 1865, the nation fought over the issue of slavery, and other issues. In the end President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, giving more than three million slaves their freedom. However, after the war, many southern states passed laws limiting the rights of blacks. In both the North and the South, racism, the belief that one race is better that another, was a part of life. In all ways possible, blacks and whites were kept separate by these laws. It would take someone special to stand up for the black people, to help create equal rights for all citizens. This special person was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America.…
