Why is it important for students to learn that private citizens such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton (women’s right to vote), William Lloyd Garrison (abolition of slavery), and Martin Luther King, Jr. (equal rights for African Americans) have made a positive difference in American society?

Private citizens such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, William Lloyd Garrison, and Martin Luther King, Jr. had made a positive difference in American society by leading to greater social and economic mobility for African-Americans across the nation and banned racial discrimination, providing greater access to resources for women, religious minorities, African-Americans and low-income families. It secured African Americans equal access to restaurants, transportation, and other public facilities. It enabled blacks, women, and other minorities to break down barriers in the workplace.