THEMES IN U.S. & WORLD HISTORY
GKE1 Task 2: Individuals and Institutions as Mechanisms of Social Change

Part A
Martin Luther was a monk who lived in Wittenberg, Germany. The two most significant changes that he made were challenging Church policies and he sparked the Protestant Reformation, a religious movement. Both of these changes are political and social changes.
Luther wrote the “Ninety-Five Theses”, in the Ninety-Five Theses” he listed the reasons why he believed the church was corrupted due to their abuse of power. Luther posted his “Ninety-Five Theses” all around the city and on the church. His “Ninety-Five Theses” reached people and the pope as well. Through this act Luther gained many followers, but he was eventually excommunicated from the church and declared an outlaw. Being excommunicated meant that you would be cut out from contact with the church. If you were declared and outlaw this meant that it was against the law to do any service for Luther. Despite Luther being declared an outlaw, his teachings and ideas lived on. Luther’s work rapidly spread because he was able to use the movable type printing press to create copies of his “Ninety-Five Theses”. As Luther’s “95 Theses” spread, more people began questioning the power of the Church and questioned its policies. This lead to the Protestant Reformation.
The Protestant reformation was a time where people decided to stop following church policies and norms. Nuns left their monasteries and convicts. They decided to part from the church and live their lives. (Derek, 2007)
Part B
Martin Luther King Jr. was an influential leader who was inspired by the work of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. MK Gandhi was also a leader, he used political non-violence strategies to help gain India gain freedom from the British. King used the same non-violence strategy that Gandhi did. King used Gandhi’s strategy in