Going beyond the roots of the southern states, the KKK had a huge impact on the American society in the 1920’s. To fully understand the Ku Klux Klan you have to know how the KKK originated. The Ku Klux Klan founded in 1866 in the town of Pulaski, Tennessee by former confederate army veterans; the first leader of the KKK is also known as the “Grand Wizard” was Nathan Bedford Forrest who was a former slave trader. The KKK was created in order to enforce white superiority in the south. The Klan members primarily targeted people who were not white, Anglo- Saxon, or Protestant.
The Ku Klux Klan a) The Invisible Empire of the South was also known as the Ku Klux Klan i) Formed by radical racist Southerners ii) They intimidated and killed lots of African
In the South, there was a group called the Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK. They would run rampant killing whoever they pleased, and no one would stop them. The KKK would kill political figures who supported Reconstruction or freedman. In a testimony to the Senate, Abram Colby states, “On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open , took me out of my bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead” (Colby 513). The KKK targeted African Americans and tortured them to death.
Originally designed as a club for ex-Confederate soldiers, the KKK became a “vehicle for Southern white underground resistance to Radical Reconstruction” (The Editors of). Members would attack recently freed slaves in an attempt to assert white superiority over blacks. Members could be found spread throughout the southern United States, including in levels of state and local government (The Editors of). Although the KKK saw membership dramatically decline due to growing racial tolerance in the United States, the late 20th century featured a revival of the group due to the Civil Rights movement. KKK attacks on supporters of the movement still occurred until the late 1980’s
The KKK was a white nationalized group that included former veterans, which created the first branch of the group. The Klansmen founded in 1865, in Pulaski, Tennessee, is now known as the birthplace of the KKK. This group dedicated themselves to a campaign of violence to Republican leaders and voters. The KKK targeted many people based on their race or sexuality , including, Gays, Immigrants, African Americans, and Catholics(KKK history). Jim Crow laws,
The KKK was a group of white southerners who did not want the policies establishing political and economic equality for blacks to be successful. The KKK engaged in underground campaigns of intimidation and violence directed at Republican leaders, both white and black. One of the most notorious areas of the Klan was South Carolina. In January 1871, five hundred masked men attacked a Union county jail and lynched eight black prisoners. Acts like these would go “unnoticed” by officials and other influential citizens in the area because of the fear of how the Klan would retaliate and also by the lack of care for what the Klan was doing.
The KKK was a group of white planters, merchants, and Democratic politicians. In Colfax, Louisiana, in 1873, armed whites assaulted this town with a small cannon. Hundreds of formers slaves were murdered, along with fifty members of a black militia, even after they surrendered. This was their bloodiest attack. Also, in May, 1866, white mobs burned 12 churches and 4 schools.
After the Civil War, a group called the Ku Klux Klan, better known today as the KKK, was formed. This group made it almost impossible for new African American citizens to exercise their rights. This group used physical assault and murder to express their opinion about African Americans at that time. In Document B, an image is shown of a member of the KKK teaming up with a member of the White League. Below the two, a small family of slaves huddles together in fear.
The Klu Klux Klan was a terrorist clan that consisted of the white elite or white plantation owners. This terrorist group started in 1865 and was a hate group for many different communities. The KKK was considered as a secret society who did their own form of oppression to the black community. Thankfully the government stepped in and the 3 enforcement acts was enforced. The 3 enforcement acts restricted the klan which was a huge success.
The 1920s, and all of the events that accompanied it, provoked the KKK to rise up once again. This revitalized Klan is often referred to as the second wave of the Klan.5 It was established in 1915 by William J. Simmons. Simmons, a minister, claimed that he had been given a vision by God. In this vision, God told him to gather white, native-born Protestant men in battle against forces of evil and immorality that were consuming the nation.6 So, Simmons gathered 33 men, climbed to the top of Stone Mountain in Georgia, and set a cross on fire, signifying the beginning of a movement.7 While the first Klan had just been a phenomenon, the 1920s Klan was a legitimate organization, with over 6 million members joining in between 1920 and
Who they were The Ku Klux Klan is an extremist organisation that was founded shortly after the American Civil War. The Klan uses intimidation, cruelty, and murder to maintain white supremacy in Southern politics and society. The KKK believes that black Americans will become more powerful and seek revenge, so it suppresses their liberties and rights.
The KKK was led by Confederate General Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. An excerpt decribes, “A new version of the Ku Klux Klan arose during the early 1920s. Throughout this time period, immigration, fear of radicalism, and a revolution in morals and manners fanned anxiety in large parts of the country.” They expressed their hatred, through acts of terrorism and intimidation towards Catholics, Jews, African Americans, and foreigners.
The Ku Klux Klan first emerged in Pulaski, Tennessee following the Civil War. As we know today, the mere mention of the Klan triggers fear as the KKK is known for its various tactics of violence that came in the form if lynchings, murders, and mutilations. Following their emergence, the KKK were quickly symbolized and portrayed as the protectors of the South, following the defeat of the Southern states in the Civil War and the beginning of the period of Reconstruction by the federal government (Gurr, 1989, p. 132). During the 1920s, the KKK achieved its greatest political success and growth outside of the South. During this period, the membership of the Klan heavily expanded to the states of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Oregon, to which the KKK obtained two to two and one-half million members at its apex.
The Ku Klux Klan or KKK has created centuries of fear. They originated in Pulaski, Tennessee. The famous hate group was out to re establish white supremacy. The KKK has influenced local governments and people in power. It has also had an impact on American people and specifically black minorities.
The analysis and finding of the Ku Klux Klan is that this extremist group is also associated as a hate group as time evolved with the definition of hate groups and todays extremist Christian groups. This data and finding has been accumulated from research of the origin of the Ku Klux Klan and their extreme actions in carrying out what they believed to be the right forum of saving America from those they identified as not being of American decent. Throughout history they have intimidated those whom are not so called pure white and their belief in racial superiority over all nationalities. These accounts have been verified though quantitative research approach though out history by historians.
