Historical Interpretations Of The Ku Klux Klan

Topic: In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was founded by many former confederate veterans in retaliation to their current Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. The Reconstruction era sparked by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation clearly defined that the days of white superiority were in dissolution. Through a willful ignorance and an insecurity of what might postlude the civil rights movement, the KKK rose, using terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former Lieutenant general in the Civil war, became the KKK's first Grand Wizard. Now with a steady leader the klan became a persistent political party aimed at dismantling the increasingly

Inspired by his viewing of The Birth Of A Nation, the second Ku Klux Klan was founded by William J. Simmons, a former Methodist preacher. The Klan emerged during the “nadir of American race relations” however the growth of the Klan developed in response to new anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic and prohibitionist agendas as a result of contemporary social beliefs. Members of the Ku Klux Klan promoted patriotism and the ideals of “One hundred percent Americanism”. They attacked modernist views, criticizing bootlegging, motion pictures and homosexual relationships, demanding stricter morality and a return to “pure” living.

During the Reconstruction Era, Congress passed many laws to provide equal rights to people of color. But at the local level, specifically in the South, many Democrats took the law into their own hands. They supported the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hoping to restore the pre-Civil War social hierarchy. The texts in Going to the Source illustrate two groups of individuals who opposed the KKK. In testimonies given by white witnesses, Republicans from the North felt the KKK posed a political and social danger in the South, but did not feel intimidated. The testimonies given by black witnesses were people who had experience of the Klan’s violence, and felt their lives were threatened. The Klan’s attacks on whites were more inclined towards social harassment, while their attacks on blacks, which consisted of voting intimidation and night rides, were violent and abusive because the KKK’s main goal was white supremacy.

During the 1920’s rebirth of the KKK, the Klan would turn to politics to help push their beliefs. Hundreds of Klansmen would go onto win elections to local offices and state legislatures, which at the height of their power would account for more than three million members (Henretta, pg. 670). Having members of the Klan elected to local offices and state legislatures, allowed for the Klan to become very influential. Eventually becoming so influential, the clan had people feeling as if they were compelled to support or join them. Along with becoming influential, having Klansmen in local offices and state legislatures allowed for the Klan become dispersed across the country. Unlike the original Klan, the reborn Klan well geographically

To understand the Klan, then, it is necessary to understand the character and present mind of the mass of old-stock Americans. The mass, it must be remembered, as distinguished from the intellectually mongrelized "Liberals.'

Forever. 170). The Klan were white southerners who were organized and committed to the breaking down of Reconstruction. By methods of brutality, “the Klan during Reconstruction offers the most extensive example of homegrown terrorism in American history” (Foner. Forever. 171). The Ku Klux Klan as well as other groups killed or tormented black politicians or threatened the blacks who voted in elections. The Klan strongly disagreed with the northern idea that slaves should become part of the government. The Historian Kenneth M. Stampp states, “for their [the North] supreme offense was not corruption but attempting to organize the Negroes for political action” (Stampp. Era. 159). This corresponds with Foner’s idea that the South was not open to the idea of change but more so consumed with the idea of recreating a society similar to one of the past. However, the goal of white power groups was not just politics. The Klan wanted to restore the hierarchy once controlling the South. Foner observes that, “the organization took on the function of the antebellum slave patrols: making sure that blacks did not violate the rules and etiquette of white supremacy” (Foner. Forever. 172). Like the power the southern whites formerly held over the slave population, the Ku Klux Klan wanted to control the African American population still living in the South. They did not want the freedmen to become integrated into their society because they saw them as lesser people. By suppressing and

Although not all went to the extremes of the KKK using terror, beating, and even murder to fulfill their quest in purifying America, they however they did support it’s ideology in many rural America. It has been estimated that, between the years 1920-27, the hands of the Klan members in the Southern states butchered 416 Blacks. Research indicates that most of the victims were innocent or were convicted of small offenses that certainly didn’t deserve such punishment. In the southern states, where the majority of the African American population resided, the notion of ‘white supremacy’ went unquestioned. Scarily enough, the KKK reached their hands into politics as well. In the state o f Indiana, the ‘Grand Wizard’, David Stephenson was politically powerful. It was also alleged that the Klan helped elect the governor of Maine, Colorado, and Louisiana in 1924. Moreover, on August 18th 1925 the Ku Klux Klan was able to parade down 40,000 men on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C without any intervention from state officials. Segregated facilities in government buildings remained unchanged since the first decade of the century, which showed the American government during the twenties was continually ignoring issues linked to ethnic minorities and the hostile attitudes of its people towards them. The act of

The goal of this investigation is to delve into the question of: to what extent was the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s a reflection of societal change? In order to assess this question from multiple perspectives on the topic, research is needed to further look into the Klan’s motives both prior to their revival as well as after. Events in the 1870s, when the Klan ended, as well as events in the 1920s, when the klan was reborn, will be considered in this investigation in order to make connections between the KKK and why their revival in the 1920s reflected societal change. Among these events include the end of Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, increase of immigration to the United States, as well as the “red scare” of communism.

The start of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in 1866, expanded throughout most of the southern states by 1870. This Klan is known for its discrimination against African Americans, which has had major effects on today’s society. “Making or perceiving differences and distinctions,” is the definition of discrimination (Webster dictionary). Not only did they discriminate against Africans Americans but also Jews, and Catholics (history,com staff). Since the birth of the KKK society was not only affected by the discrimination of the Klan, but also the activities, and the brutal events.

Shawn Lay, from “ The Second Invisible Empire and Toward a New Historical Appraisal of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s”, rejects the view of the KKK as a radical fringe group comprised of marginal men and instead characterizes the KKK of the 1920s as a

The second Ku Klux Klan lasted between 1915 to 1944 but predominantly rose and fell during the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan was a white supremacist group with millions of members who brutally tortured and killed anyone who was not a white American. The Ku Klux Klan were known for their white robes, cone hats, and covered faces that disguised their identities. The second Ku Klux Klan’s most important part of it’s history was it’s dramatic rise and fall. The Ku Klux Klan rapidly gained popularity during the 1920s due to political encouragement and immigration, then fell due to political corruption.

The Klan included mayors, judges, sheriffs, and often common criminals. They murdered black politicians and political leaders. The men beat and murdered thousands of people. And they intimidated tens of thousands of others (The Rise and Fall of Jim crow; Jim Crow stories). The KKK vowed to defend their own white-Protestant culture against any group that seemed to be un-American. The Klansman’s Manual stated “Klansmen are to be examples of patriotism. They are to organize the patriotic sentiment of native-born white, Protestant Americans for the defense of distinctively American institutions. Klansmen are dedicated to the principle that America shall be made American through promulgation of American doctrines, the dissemination of American ideals, the creation of wholesome American sentiment, the preservation of American institutions.”. As the Klan grew power, many Southern politicians relied on their power (BBC – Higher Bitesize History).

Hooded Americanism: The First Century of the Ku Klux Klan: 1865 to the Present by David Chalmers records the history of the Ku Klux Klan quite bluntly, all the way from its creation following the civil war, to the early 1960’s. The author starts the book quite strongly by discussing in detail many acts of violence and displays of hatred throughout the United States. He makes a point to show that the Klan rode robustly throughout all of the country, not just in the southern states. The first several chapters of the book focus on the Klan’s creation in 1865. He goes on to discuss the attitude of many Americans following the United State’s Civil War and how the war shaped a new nation. The bulk of the book is used to go through many of

In summary, the book talks vividly about the rise and reasoning of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915 and a brief background about the founder, William Joseph Simmons. It also focused on members of the Ku Klux Klan in Clarke County, Georgia. This revival of the original KKK, that formed after the Civil War, now hated everyone that wasn’t one of them, a WASP or White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. A majority of their hatred was directed to

The Ku Klux Klan was a politically and racially motivated group that discouraged and frustrated attempts at racial equality (Bowles 2011). They were against all equality for anyone who supported a Union or was black. They were in control of the Southern states and they ran amuck abusing and murdering anyone they felt would threaten their way of life and the local and state governments sat back and supported their efforts to keep the blacks enslaved at all costs. In and article written by the Harper’s Weekly paper about the atrocities in the South it stated that,