Ku Klux Klan Research

The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1865 and was made to resist the Reconstruction of the Civil War. They believed whites were racially superior to blacks and held this belief fiercely. Raiding African American homes, lynching innocents, and burning down African American farms. With rises and falls of members, the Ku Klux Klan always was apart of US history after the Civil War. They

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

The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, was thriving in its second generation during the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan was reborn by William J. Simmons, with the intentions of creating a world with only one race. Simmons’ inspiration came from the film, “Birth of a Nation”. The Ku Klux Klan became more hateful and violent than ever, creating a sense of fear among not only African-Americans, but Jews, Catholics, and immigrants too.

- The most notorious organization was the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was organized in Pulaski Tennessee, in 1866 to intimidate former slaves who voted and apprehended political offices during Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan history came all about with the situation in the South following the harsh Civil War. The Southern States were in distraught and the defeated white people were humiliated and felt like they had to get revenge and gain their power back. The goal of the original Ku Klux Klan was to fight against the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain "white supremacy. The Klan was led by merchants, planters, and Democratic politicians. They considered themselves as the most respectable citizens

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.

The Ku Klux Klan flourished in the South at the beginning of the Reconstruction succeeding the Civil War. There remained numerous ex-Confederates that were still strongly opposed to the Reconstruction and sought to preserve white supremacy in the South. Directly after the Civil War the government in the South was weak and vulnerable. The Ku Klux Klan leveraged this and used violence and threats to try to reestablish white supremacy. They were most successful in playing upon fears and superstitions. They not only brought terror to the black communities but they also targeted carpetbaggers and scalawags. They used these threats and fears in effectively keeping the blacks away from the polls so that the ex-Confederates could gain back political control in the

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

The Klan on their march displayed their increasing numbers and was marching to show how powerful the KKK have become. The KKK was working on an effort “to get lawmakers to pass discriminatory laws against immigrants” (www.georgiaencyclopedia.org, “Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century”). The Klan believed to protest against all races and work to influence the government to put restrictions on allowing other races in the United States. In their march they worked to intimidate blacks, Catholics, Jews, and all other races. In addition, in the voting system, millions of its members succeeded in electing hundreds of KKK-backed candidates to local, state, and even federal office, the group proved unable to preserve its influence at the ballot box beyond that decade (www.brandeis.edu, “Ku Klux Klan’s lasting legacy on the U.S. political system”). The KKK was solely trying anyway to get the public's attention and gain support while they worked to changed the way Americans viewed the opposing

The Ku Klux Klan or KKK was founded in 1886 but by 1870 had spread to every southern state, its primary goal was to reestablish white supremacy, they did this through an underground campaign of intimidation and violence directed at white and black republican leaders, despite the lawlessness of its actions the KKK had almost unrestricted support from whites across the south.Jim Crow laws did not help this matter, Jim Crow laws were laws that mandated segregation in all public places. The conditions for African Americans were constantly inferior and underfunded compared to those of the whites Americans. In the pivotal 1896 Plessy VS Ferguson case the supreme court ruled that ‘Separate but Equal’ was constitutional however the facilities were never equal. In 1900 about 90% of blacks in America lived in the Southern States, where segregation was very strong. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s saw a rise in KKK activity, bombing black schools and churches, and violence against black and white activists. The treatment of blacks around America was another significant cause of the Birmingham movement, if blacks hadn’t faced such systematic and brutal discrimination then such direct action may not have been

The Ku Klux Klan was a racial hate group in the south that made sure blacks did not get any civil rights. Members in the Ku Klux Klan believed whites were superior to other races. The KKK hated the blacks because they believed slaves, who were the blacks, are to be less than human. Only white Anglo-Saxon Protestants or known as “WASPS” could become members. The members also had to pay monthly fees so they could “adopt a highway” to look good in the eyes of the communities.

The subject of the ku klux klan took pace in the time where there was a huge fight for equal rights for African Americans. It started in the reconstruction period after the american civil war. The klan helps express the anger the south felt towards the government for not having a plan to save their economy after the war

The Ku Klux Klan caused fear in many people through violence, threats, and Terrorism. This was the main way of them causing fear, their violence came to those who opposed them and were african american. The Klan would force African Americans out of jobs and their properties, but if they would refuse, they would be slaughtered in front of their loved ones. The reasoning they did this was because they wanted Whites to have the jobs and properties they wanted.

The KKK started off harmless, then quickly became involved in the violent struggle of the Reconstruction Era. They believed that blacks were inferior members of society, and were undeserving of citizenship or legal protection. Violence within the KKK was very destructive, and Congress soon responded by passing a series of federal acts to enforce the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. The Civil Rights Act of 1871, more formally known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, gave federal officials the power to arrest anyone who sought to deprive citizens of their constitutionally guaranteed rights.

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,

In 1866, a club inspired by hate and bigotry that would change the way people thought of other humans forever was created. The Klu Klux Klan , or KKK, was inspired by the idea that one human being was superior and deserved more than another merely because of his skin color. This society was popular, and at one point, had more than 4 million members. News of attacks and lynches rang out almost every week. The popularity and longevity of the KKK, was fueled by the influence that people have on each other and uses experiences that influence people to choose hate and violence.