What Is The Klu Klux Klan?

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.

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

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

An organization called Ku Klux Klan had a goal to eliminate as many african american people as possible. African americans found themselves in a very dangerous situation because not only was the law giving them very little attention but they were in risk of being mobbed out or killed by the KKK. It says, “ We believe you are not familiar with.. Ku Klux Klan’s riding nightly over the country, going from country to country and in towns spreading terror wherever they go by robbing, whipping, ravishing[rapping], and killing our people without provocation”. White people got together and attacked the blacks with violence to get rid of them.

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

Reconstruction was a time of culture shift and intolerance in American society. Many white Americans were opposed to the idea of being equal to another person of a different color or ethnicity. As a result of the civil war, about 600,000 were dead. Also after the war the 13th amendment was passed which abolished slavery, the 14th amendment gave blacks American citizenship and civil rights, and the 15th amendment made it illegal to deny the someone the right to vote based on race .The term reconstruction means rebuild; Reconstruction was a plan to rebuild the south.

The most famous white supremacy group in American history is the Ku Klux Klan (a.k.a. The KKK) and aimed to “cleanse” the American population of black people and was used to launch attacks on black people and the people that advocated and supported their rights. The group was founded in 1865 in Tennessee by 6 members of the Confederate army and gained an immense amount of followers over the next 80 years. At its peak, the group reached around 6 million members on a global scale, extending the racism and hate worldwide. The activities of the hate-group became extremely violent as they started cross burnings, executions and mass parades to advocate their anti-civil rights movement. Eventually, they also started targeting other minorities in America, such as Jewish people, who have also faced a large struggle for rights and freedoms throughout history. Eventually, the people started to fight back against the KKK and although it still continues today as a group with an extremely small amount of members, numbers were drastically reduced, their hate crimes subsided and the black people of America once again started to regain their rights and

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 the 1920s, the membership of the Klan sky rocketed and by the middle of the decade the national membership in the underground society ranged from three to eight million members. One of the reasons for the triumphant growth of the Klan in the 1920s was due to the fact that membership wasn’t restricted to anyone (white). Membership was accessible to the poor, uneducated, mainstream, and middle class Americans. It is reported that even doctors, lawyers and my God ministers were supporters of the men who donned the white robes that struck trepidation in the hearts of non-white Americans. The KKK was ultimately even able to take control of the local and state politics in the 1920s as well; they would come up with a very well thought out strategy to get their fellow Klansman elected.

For the violence Ku Klux Klan choose to invoke, as Southern Poverty Law Center said. “lynching’s, tar, and featherings, rapes, and other violent arracks on those challenging white supremacy became a hallmark of the Klan.” The Ku Klux Klan was

“The first incarnation of the KKK formed just after the Civil War, using terrorist violence as a means of maintaining white supremacy, but its influence "waxed and waned," as Gordon puts it, over the decades that followed” (Waxman 2). The Ku Klux Klan, aka KKK, is a white supremacist group who has done many cruel things to African Americans. Throughout many years, the KKK has grown power over politics, the news, and television as ways to try and exterminate African Americans. The KKK is a group that think the white people have the power over the African Americans, and that African Americans should not be treated as fair. Overall, the Ku Klux Klan impacted society through violence, white supremacy, and the nationwide attention the group was

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 film was extremely popular and captivated by the fact it was reality and not fiction. The Birth of a Nation gave the Klan the ability to reinstate them. Following the Atlanta premiere of the movie William J. Simmons, a Methodist minister, was given the title of Imperial Wizard. He immediately started recruiting. The second Klan was officially acknowledged on the eve of Thanksgiving, when they burned a cross on the summit if Stone Mountain. The second Klan claimed to be founded on “100 percent Americanism”. The group was much like a fraternity selling group-rates to encourage more participation. The Second Klan had many financial abilities and seemed to be declining fast until Edward Young Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler’s public relation firm took

The Ku Klux Klan was formed as a social club by a group of Confederate Army veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee in the winter of 1865-66. The group adopted the name Ku Klux Klan from the Greek word "kyklos," meaning circle, and the English word clan. By 1944 the Ku Klux Klan had lost most of its influence and membership. It was revived during the Civil Rights era and continues today as a small organization that continues to stage demonstrations in favor of white supremacy and fundamentalist Christian theology. William J. Simmons, a former Methodist preacher, organized a new Klan in Stone Mountain, Georgia in 1915 as a patriotic, Protestant fraternal society. Then and Now: KKK membership peaked at four to five million in the mid-1920s; today there are an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 Klan members among roughly 100 groups. Although the Klan still reverted to burning crosses, torturing and murdering those whom they opposed, the organization became a powerful political force in the 1920s. This new Klan directed its activity against not just blacks, but immigrants, Jews, and Roman

A year into the Klan, leaders wanted to create a hierarchical organization. As a result, in 1867, Klan’s from all over the South gathered in Tennessee and gave former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest full control of the Klan (The History Channel, 2005). Later interviewed by a Charleston newspaper, Forrest boasted that the member count exceeded 40,000 men in Tennessee alone and over 550,000 in all the Southern states (The Charleston, 1868). Never achieving organization, local chapters continued to go about their business, settling things in a way they deemed fit, this, in turn, would be one of the reasons for the decline of the Klan.