What Is The Ku Klux Klan?

The Ku Klux Klan, known as the KKK, has been one of the most feared groups in America since the end of the civil war during post-war reconstruction.. The civil war was not just about the rights of the black man, but it was a very important part. People in the north mostly believed the black person was due the same liberties insured by the U.S. Constitution. The 14th Amendment of the constitution gave equal protection to former slaves. However people in the south saw the black man as inferior and a slave needed to work on the plantation. This led to continued unrest after the war. Some felt the black man and those that supported his cause needed to be stopped. They wanted to control the black population. The Klan also would torture white people who were sympathetic to the blacks and their situation.

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

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

There are three distinct historical interpretations of the Klan as an organization. The first historical interpretations argue that the Klan was established as an organization answering to a society in need of help with maintaining social order and law. Historians within this interpretation emphasize the playfulness and theatrical nature of the Klan which is unique to this particular historical perspective. This era of interpretation focuses very little on the violence that the Klan inflicted on Southern society, often completely eliminating its violent accounts from their historical works. The second historical interpretations argue that the Klan was established as a racially motivated political organization. Historians argued that because of the Klan’s origins as a racially motivated organization, the Klan would go on to establish political dominance and control over much of Southern society. The third and final historical interpretation argues that the Ku Klux Klan was established as a result to a struggling plantation system. Within this historical era of interpretation, Michael W. Fitzgerald describes the Klan as a non-violent enforcer that was created to control petty theft and labor riots. The establishment of the Klan as a political organization with race

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

The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the Klan or the KKK, originated in Pulaski,

The Klan usually wears masks, white sheets, and cardboard hats. This is seen as one of America's first genuine terrorist group, having a commitment to reach its ideal achievements through acts of uttermost torture and violence. The KKK or The Klan, is a white bigot group and evolution with the goal of racial discrimination. The KKK determined to make sure anyone who was characterized as a foreigner was resented, killed and torched. Numerous of African Americans, whites who were affectionate towards them, as well as many immigrants of all and any countries. This Klan appearance began after the Civil War and as kept its main target on violence 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

One of the most infamous groups that emerge to prevent the growth of African American rights was the Ku Klux Klan; the Klan was founded in “an effort to terrorize the newly enfranchised black voter.” The Ku Klux Klan is still active today, more so in southern states, nevertheless, they still hold on to their white supremacy beliefs. In 1873 a group of whites murdered over 100 African Americans in an effort to keep Republicans out of office; Federal prosecutors indicted three of these men. As southern offices became dominantly Democratic, the violence against African American voters slowly

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

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.

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.

Lynchings, beatings, sexual abuse, and mutilations were some of the violence towards African Americans. “Klan members would both assault and rape black women [...] mutilate male African Americans,”(Hodes 66). The KKK died down, was still strong but not as frequent or public, but it reemerged in the 1920’s being one of its strongest groups. “The resurgent of the Klan of the 1920’s was short but potent [...] fueled intolerance for blacks, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants,” (National Humanities Center). The Ku Klux Klan was a group of white Americans who targeted and degraded any group of colored ethnicities, as well as whites who stood by African Americans

KKK actions were designed to intimidate black voters and white supporters of the Republican party. Also, they threatened some of the Republican leaders with violence, and parade on horseback at night dressing in outlandish costumes. On the same note, KKK violent increased during the year 1868; they started from whipping all the black women perceived as insolent to the assassination of Republican leaders. The attacks on blacks by Klan became common during 1868, and in January 1st to November 15th, 1868; Freedmen's Bureau agents reported that 336 cases of murder and assault with intent to kill freedmen were made across the states. Klan used their violence to control the freedpeople's social behavior, Black churches, schools were burned, and teachers were attacked alongside with the freed-people who refused to show proper deference were beaten and killed. However, the black Georgians fought back their attackers, rebuilt their churches, schools, and shot back during attacks in their

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,