Why Is The Anonymous Christian-Extremist Group

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.

This group brutally killed anyone who opposed their view of what’s right, in public areas for example “John W. Stephens, State Senator from Caswell, is dead. He was foully murdered by the Ku-Klux in the Grand Jury room of the Court House on Saturday… He was stabbed five or six times, and then hanged on a hook in the Grand Jury room”. This didn’t only effect this one unfortunate person, but because of their intentional publicity it scares everyone and gives them the message that if they oppose they could end up like their previous

The source that proved most useful during the research process for this paper was the non-fiction White Terror by Allen W. Trelease. He was a recognized historian and Emeritus Professor in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Trelease specialized in southern history especially during the reconstruction and the civil war periods. This source features in this paper heavily, mostly because the chapters follow the KKK from the Klan’s beginnings all the way through the reconstruction period, which is the time period in discussion. In addition, the novel puts an emphasis on the success the Klan had in relation to what they aimed to accomplish with their actions. A limitation of the document would be that many of the Klan’s actions and motives were of a clandestine nature and therefore much of the dating and validity of information is estimated. The novel overcomes this drawback by referencing multiple primary sources such as a Ku Klux warning to Governor Henry Clay Warmouth of Louisiana on page 273.

From the Testimony of Abram Colby it says,”Some are first class-men in our town. One is a lawyer, one a doctor, and some are farmers…”(Colby, 513). This just comes to show the KKK is well known in the South and everybody doesn’t even care about what their doing. And nobody will stop it because of fear. From the Harper’s Weekly a picture shows two Klansmen putting a gun to an African American's head and in the background of the picture you see all of these people just standing there watching this take place(Harper, 513). In other words the KKK is doing what they want and are spreading fear which makes people not want to rebel or fight

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

The KKK extended their defense of true Americanism from only blacks to Catholics, Jews, foreigners, feminists, and radicals (Cohen 694). Along with their new promise, they rallied for more members to help with their defense to protect American purity. The Klan’s size grew exponentially during their second upbringing to their most ever of over three million members. While the second upbringing of the Klan was short-lived, their influence of their defense against anything that was not purely American reflects on the beliefs of white

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

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 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

”On 17th May, 2000, the FBI announced that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan splinter group, the Cahaba Boys”(Effects of the Klu Klux Klan). This is a recent find of something the KKK did. ”In the mid-2010s, between five and eight thousand KKK members had been identified in forty-one American states”(“Ku Klux Klan”). This shows that the KKK is still a big thing and could still be dangerous. ”current version of the KKK consists of numerous small groups scattered across the United States, advocating for white supremacy above all nonwhite and non-Christian Americans”(“Ku Klux Klan”). This shows that the KKK is different from back then because it is smaller and more spread

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

Cults obtain very anti-semitic perceptions that marginalize minority groups to ultimately advocate the supremacy of the white culture. A globally familiar xenophobic organization, “Ku Klux Klan,” is notorious for their history of brutalities committed due to cultural intolerance. The secret societies express their animosity due to obscure ideologies and sufficient ignorance. To begin, the Ku Klux Klan acquires a victimizing political belief system that states in which minorities are a mass threat to society. The organization’s core philosophical conclusion is that White America is threatened by “racial impurities.” The KKK creates an ignorant theory that the government supports and defends minorities, therefore the racists victimize

One solider, John Kennedy, suggested naming the group “kuklux” after the Greek work for circle. The friends agreed to pair the word with “Klan”, since they were all of Scottish descent. Ku Klux Klan sounded the right now: mysterious and silly” (Williams 41). This was how this group originally came about. The group did not originate to the hatred of other races other than Caucasians. It was eventfully the Klu Klux Klan began to terrorize the blacks. “The Klansmen, bored with hazing their white peer, turned to blacks as a source of amusement. They would visit the homes of black families, claiming to be ghosts of confederate soldiers looking for revenge. The Klansmen delighted in exaggerating for reactions of blacks, whom they described as terrified by the ghosts” (Williams 42-43). Because of acts like the KKK and other discrimination toward minorities, people rose to end the unfairness the was happening to

At one point in the movie Ward says to Anderson that some things are worth dying for, where Anderson replies with the answer: “Down here, things are different. Here; they believe that some things are worth killing for.” That describes Ku Klux Klan pretty well. They are all willing to kill for their cause and they want to wipe out the black race.

     The Ku Klux Klan has been around since the end of the civil war. It is a roller coaster of a history. From extreme power, to rapid decline, and slow reemergence. The clan, who is notorious for its violence, has a relatively innocent beginning. It was formed from some veterans from the confederate army and was first called the Kuklos Clan which, in Greek, meant Circle Clan. One person thought it would be a good idea to call it the "Ku Klux Klan" as a parody of the fraternity names which always had three Greek alphabet letters in it. They created the Clan to be mischievous and to do it without anyone knowing who they were which accounts for their costumes