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WHAT IS THE KKK? WHO ARE THEY?
Ex-Confederate soldiers established the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. They developed the first two words of the group's name from the Greek word kuklos, meaning "group or band," and took the third as a variant of the word clan. Starting as a largely recreational group, the Klan soon turned to intimidating newly freed African Americans. Riding at night, the Klan terrorized and sometimes murdered those it opposed. Members adopted a hooded white costume—a guise intended to represent the ghosts of the Confederate dead—to avoid identification and to frighten victims during nighttime raids.
The Klan fed off the post-Civil War resentments of white southerners—resentment that centered on the
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Named after the "comical" minstrel show character who was white, but black-faced to show and mock the African-American/Negro race of America that were shipped to America to be used as slaves, these laws thoroughly enforced segregation of public places, such as park benches, eating areas and restaurants, toilets and convenience stores all around America. Segregation refers to the policy of keeping black and white Americans separate from one another. In 1875, the Enforcement Act, or the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed by 'Radical Republicans' in an effort to end Jim Crow Laws, However, it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court within a few …show more content…
Many, if not all people of colour (African Americans, Hispanics and many other ethnic minorities within America), were against this march, as the KKK was not something they would like to support or promote, and like hell were people letting them march in public, fully robed (however, the government at the time made the Klan march without their masks for security reaosns and to make sure that if anything happened, the face of the perpetrator would be easy to recognize) and in full force, promoting the one thing all people of colour feared most: white supremacy.
In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was at the peak of its membership, numbering 3 million strong. The growth of the hate group was fueled by the 1915 release of the silent film Birth of a Nation, which portrayed members as heroes, coinciding with the widespread xenophobia following the devastation of World War I. The KKK's hatred was directed not only against black people, but also against European Catholic and Jewish immigrants flocking to the U.S. after the
Numerous Confederate soldiers joined the KKK; therefore, they soon dressed as the Ghost of Confederate Soldiers. At first, they would patrol the roads and crash parties. They eventually realized that the freed black people were terrified of them and used this to control their behavior. They started seeing themselves as a law enforcers rather than law breakers. Their law enforcement was traveling at night and randomly beating people who didn't like the klan.
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 new Klan was against anyone who was not an American Native. This group was based near Atlanta, however there was a large group of the Klan in New Jersey. The new Klan was a sign that the people of the United States were sensing a change in culture and they were not comfortable with it. Therefore they decided to take it upon themselves to make the change stop. In 1924 it was reported that there were four million members in the new Klan.
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.
The KKK had different periods of popularity. The first klan was organized after the Civil War to restore racial order in the South after
KKK was a white supremacist organization. That believe that all Non Caucasian people do not belong in the United States . It was not long before the KKK did acts like Bombing , Rape and Lynching. To protest The civil rights of African Americans.
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 began to grow and become a large problem for innocent people. In 1833 the United States passed a bill called the Force Bill (Carson 1). This made the klan disappear for awhile but did not stop them. Still to this day people are struggling with the Ku Klux
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.
In the first few years after the Civil War, not only was the South economically shattered, but it now had a large population of freed slaves to account for. Many Southerners were still opposed to African-Americans having equal rights, and they lasted out in violent ways without punishment. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a group born out of hate and resentment towards African Americans. They were able to conduct a reign of terror over the South with impunity because they had justifications for their actions, making their atrocities seem less gruesome and terrible than it actually was, and many white Southerners still saw African-Americans as inferior which often bled into all aspects of their lives. Started in 1865 and originally a club for ex-Confederate soldiers1, the KKK grew into a massive terrorist organization with the mission “…in urging upon Americans the duty and necessity of preserving America’s precious race heritage2.”
If a black man was not employed, he would be arrested and probably not be able to pay the fines. Even during this time, the whites struggled to see if the blacks should have the right to carry arms, but other codes told the African Americans that they could own property. During this time, a group was formed of former Confederate soldiers that met in secret. This group was called the Ku Klux Klan, and they were determined to place the whites above the blacks. The most targeted by the Ku Klux were the black businessmen and landowners who were unsuccessful.
According to PBS.com in 1871, the government passed the Ku Klux Klan Act, which gave the government to take action on the terrorist groups. The Ku Klux Klan started off as just former confederates and eventually turned into a terrorist group full of people that believed in white supremacy. They felt the only way to show the supremacy was brutally torturing and or killing African Americans because of their race. Though the act on the KKK was created when the Panic of 1873 occurred, all attention from the North made its way
They used modern advertising method to gain 5 million members by 1925. The KKK in this time period were not against only African Americans, but also Catholics, Jews, foreigners, and suspected Communists, due to the Red Scare. They used cruel punishments as tactics to intimidate anybody deemed as “un-American”. From whipping, tar and feathering, and even hanging, the KKK was ruthless.
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.