The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Essay

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

Since the Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK started several violent scenarios have occured . The KKK was started by a group of confederate war veterans, who felt that black Americans didn't matter. The KKK was a group of anti federalists that was very violent toward black people. The KKK were founded in 1866, in the state of Tennessee. By 1920, the KKK killed over 4 million people nationwide. By the year of 1870, the KKK was spread into almost every southern state in the U.S. Mostly targeting black legislative leaders. Nearly 4000 black women and children were lynched during the civil rights time period. During the time period of 1960, there was a spark in KKK activity due to the Civil Rights Movement (History).

The Ku Klux Klan soon looked to the newly freed blacks as a new source of amusement and took it upon themselves to terrorize these people by riding around at night on horses in their outlandish costumes like the slave patrol had done before them. Before too long, the Klan had shaped itself into a full blown civic organization. One of the founders of the Klan, George Gordon, applied a military style hierarchy to the Klan. The first known leader of the Ku Klux Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest, a well-known Confederate general and former slave trader. By the election in 1868, the Klan had become a political organization and had started to form its ideals. In the process of upholding those ideals, Forrest lost control of the Klan and ordered the Klan to disband, but the Klan was too far out of Forrest’s control. In 1871, the president at that time, Ulysses S. Grant, ordered military involvement which led to mass arrests and the end 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

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 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

The Ku Klux Klan was a secret terrorist organization that was created by six well educated Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee in the December of 1865. Their main objective was to restore white supremacy through acts of violence such as murder, against both Black and White Republicans. The KKK had eventually spread to every southern state, and Klansmen would often terrorize republicans regardless of their race. Members of the KKK believed that African Americans were inferior to Whites and did not believe that Blacks deserved equal rights. Although the rebel groups were outlawed and made illegal, many of them remained in existence and appeared after the reconstruction had ended. This proved the Reconstruction to be ineffective as many Southerners were still fighting against the government and opposed them. In addition, African Americans were still deprived of their rights by these

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

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 Klu Klux Klan was formed in 1866 by a group of Confederate soldiers in Pulaski, Tennessee. It was a social club or fraternity for the veterans but later had different views and became a terrorist group (PBS). The name of the group came from the Greek word “kyklos” meaning circle and then they added Klan to make the name flow (History.com Staff). It did not start with the thought of malicious activity. They would have secret meetings and elaborate ceremonies to discuss how they could stop reconstruction after the civil war. The members would wear white sheets that covered their whole body and pointy white caps to make them appear taller. This was an all white group and ended up being one of the deadliest terrorist groups (EyeWitness to History). General Nathan Bedford Forrest was the Klu Klux Klan’s first “grand wizard,” also known as

The Klan started in the year 1866, as a social club. The first Klan was founded in Tennessee and soon began to expand throughout the southern states. In 1868 the Klan quickly became one of the most feared terrorist groups. The first leader of the clan was Nathan Bedford Forrest who was a past general in the confederate army. Soon the clan evolved into almost every state in 1870. The second Klan began in 1915, and ended in 1944. The third clan started in 1946 and is still active today. (PBS)

In 1867, the Ku Klux Klan formed in Tennessee. The Ku Klux Klan were persecuted African Americans in order to prevent them from voting. They favor the Whites to dominate the United States. Black Codes were passed in the South which prohibited blacks from owning property and restricted their rights including their labor

Their main goal was to prove the public that they don’t fear anything and nothing could stop them from their beliefs. Their reasons for punishment scared most of the people and had big impact on some campaign results. I am really glad that on this year election that wasn’t the case. Organizations were always seeking to recruit new members but this time, with different things in mind. At the time, not anyone could become part of the Klan. They had to be one hundred percent American. Since the big cities had mixed ethnicities the Klan was looking for its members in areas that were least occupied by the blacks such as, villages and small towns of the south. Throughout months the Klan grew and became more violent to the point that the Government had to step in. After a while the Klan could not be controlled by Nathan Forest anymore since it had spread so quickly in many areas. The shocking impact the Klan had required Nathan to act fast if he didn’t want to be responsible. By the autumn of 1968, he dropped out of the organization.

Eight months after the Civil War, in the south the government was weak and there were no jobs available. On Christmas Eve of 1866, six confederate veterans started a social hate group in Pulaski, Tennessee. The six confederate veterans were John Lester, James Crowe, John Kennedy, Calvin Jones, Richard Reed, and Frank McCord. The group started off as just wanting to have fun and keep themselves entertained. The six founders were well educated and came from wealthy families. From their Greek knowledge, they use the word kyklos meaning circle and then added the word Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was then born. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first leader of the Klan. He was known as the “Grand Wizard.”

The Ku Klux Klan was created by six men who were once a part of the Confederate Army, and wanted to start a social club. All six men were white, and had a strong hatred veered towards blacks. They believed African Americans were not equal to whites, but did not ever imagine the damage done to the United States from their simple “social club”.