The Ku Klux Klan During The Reconstruction Era

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

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

The Ku Klux Klan had three eras, an era ends when the Ku Klux Klan movement dies out or they loss the need for it. Each era may have its own intentions or what their main goal is, but white supremacy is still their goal just trying to accomplish it in different ways, while also opposing thing that may go against their moral code, like gay marriage. The Ku Klux Klan is an origination focused on having white supremacy, it has existed for many years and has had three eras, it is most known for its act violent acts of terrorism.

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.

Through research and evidence, it is clear that the historical interpretations of the origins of Klan and its establishment as an organization and its origins have changed over time. Starting in 1906, historians argued that the Klan was a benevolent, social organization, working as law-enforcers to help maintain a distinct social order between Southern whites and newly freed slaves. Completely ignoring the violence produced by the Klan, historians depicted the Klan as a positive, well-rounded organization. The second historical interpretation shone a new light on the Klan, exposing it for its violent and racially motivated actions. Historians argued that the Klan’s establishment was as a political organization that made a negative and lasting impression on all of U.S. history. The third and final interpretation argues that the Klan was established as a result of a struggling planter class. Historical interpretations during this time period describe the main goal of the Klan as wanting to answer to the desires and goals of the planters’ class. Because of this, historians during this era never saw the Klan as being an obstacle for newly freed slaves nor did they see the Klan having a negative effect on society. In conclusion, it is evident that historical interpretations develop and

This turn to violence was how the first Ku Klux Klan rose. The Klan was formed by six ex-Confederate Veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, this organization started off small but began absorbing most of the other anti-Reconstruction groups in the south, like the Men of Justice, the Pale Faces, the Constitutional Union Guards, the White Brotherhood, and the Order of the White Rose (Infoplease.com). The Ku Klux Klan was created in fear of an insurrection by the ex-slaves, now the freedmen. The most recognized founder of the Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest. Their white robes and masks are supposed to be a representation of ex-Confederate soldiers who died during the civil war. One of the Klan’s biggest goal was keeping the freedmen away from the voting polls to assure the success of ex-Confederates in gaining back their political control in many states. In 1871, President Grant took an aim at the Klan for their interference in black suffrage but by this time the support for Reconstruction was beginning to diminish because racism was still very much alive in both the north and the south. As time progressed the Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives. The democrats waged a campaign of violence to take control of Mississippi to which President Grant responded with a refusal of federal troop intervention which ended support of the Reconstruction era. In the election of 1876, Republican, Rutherford B. Haynes, reached a compromise with

Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people,--a disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save by the simple ignorance of a lowly people. The first decade was merely a prolongation of the vain search for freedom, the boon that seemed ever barely to elude their grasp,--like a tantalizing will-o'-the-wisp, maddening and misleading the headless host. The holocaust of war, the terrors of the Ku-Klux Klan, the lies of carpet-baggers, the disorganization of industry, and the contradictory advice of friends and foes, left the bewildered serf with no new watchword beyond the old cry for freedom" (Chapter 1). They thought the Black people did not enjoy their deserved rights, like the 14th and 15th Amendments. 14th Amendments provided civil rights for African Americans, and15th Amendments provided voting rights for African Americans. Ku Klux Klan preventing African American from using the 15th Amendment to enable them to vote. Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist arm of the Southern Democratic Party. The immediate goal of these groups was to keep white and black Republicans away from polling places. Their violent tactics, targeted at black leaders, escalated during Reconstruction. White mobs killed three state legislators during these turbulent times.

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

If a black man resisted to the Ku Klux Klan when being bribed he was whipped and killed on the spot. But the negroes were not the only ones being killed by them the KKK stabbed and hung Senator John W. Stephens in the courtroom in North Carolina he was a white man. Tourgee was white, he was a Northern soldier that settled in North Carolina after the war and became a judge and was most likely the next white person target for the KKK after writing a letter to the North Carolina senator, Joseph Carter Abbott about the killing of Stephens and how anyone that bows to the KKK “is a coward, a traitor, or a fool.” (Document A) The political violence in the south continued while the north was getting tired of fighting for their

After the Reconstruction era, African Americans were granted citizenry in the United States through the abolition of slavery. As blacks sought to live among American culture, white citizens, primarily based in the South, came under rage. Thus, white supremacy became prominent in the United States after the Reconstruction era, a period also called the Nadir. This erupted into a series of violent attacks against the black community and many legislations to deny blacks the immunities and privileges granted to all people in the constitution.

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 illustrates 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.

In the south, opposition ruled. With Northern interference and the crave for racial dominance, the South made it difficult for the North to forgive and forget. Growing terrorism struck fear into African Americans, causing those who just earned the right to vote to not participate. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White League kept the spirit of racism alive. In the primary source “Reconstruction Violence and the Ku Klux Klan Hearings,” the testimonies give a clear depiction of what these extremists wanted and how they got it.

Frustrated confederate soldiers made their way back home after losing the war that they had been fighting for four years. These men formed vigilante groups, attacking black people. While soldiers did this, wealthier men who had avoided fighting in the war formed agricultural and police clubs for the same purpose; both groups soon took shape and evolved into one large group, known as the Ku Klux Klan and Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest became the first leader, known as the Grand Wizard. The name Ku Klux Klan is derived from the Greek word, Kyklos, meaning circle. The Ku Klux Klan, often shortened to the KKK, was founded in Tennessee in 1866 and grew to be one of the most feared terrorist groups in the United States, before dying off in 1869, but later being revived in 1915 (History.com Staff). The Ku Klux Klan negatively impacted the Reconstruction period through terror, intimidating Republican voters, and killing Republican officials.

General George Thomas said that, “The State of Tennessee was disturbed by strange operations of a mysterious organization known as the “Ku Klux Klan”. This mysterious group of people escalated into a major problem of reconstruction. Many thought this was a way to re-start the revolution. The KKK would kidnap many colored folks and torture them and treat them slaves. They would always hide their identity. In the textbook it states that they wanted to return the country to a democratic rule. If an African American were to attempt to vote for a republican, they would kill the person or lynch him/her. The reports of beatings, whippings, and murders increased greatly. Many attempts were made to stop the KKK, but the KKK’s numbers overpowered the police force. With the death rate increasing government put Georgia back into military control by passing the Georgia Act. This was led by General Alfred Taylor. This finally led to 15th Amendment which gained immunities for African

North Carolina should have been the state where the KKK thrived most during the mid-1960s — Cunningham reports that in mid-1966 it had 192 Klaverns, (branches of the Ku Klux Klan), and 52.2 percent of the total Klan membership in the 10 states of the South — was a mystery to many and a source of considerable dismay to the state’s leadership, which prided itself on its nonviolent response to the challenges posed by the civil rights movement. The state had been described by V.O. Key, in his immensely influential (if now somewhat dated) “Southern Politics in State and Nation” (1949), as “energetic and ambitious” with “a reputation for progressive outlook and action in many phases of life, especially industrial development, education, and race relations,” a judgment that had been confirmed by the election in 1960 of a notably capable and progressive governor, Terry Sanford.