The Ku Klux Klan: Acting Out of Hate in Secrecy
The Ku Klux Klan is classified as a hate group who in their three summits in history forced blacks and other ethnic groups to live in fear that they did not deserve.
The Ku Klux Klan is an extreme racist group founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by six former Confederate veterans. The first two words in the name come from the Greek word “kyklos” meaning “circle.” The KKK used to be known as just the Klan or the Hooded Order. The group was formed due to the white Southern resistance to the Republican Party’s newly established policies for the economic equality for blacks; main beliefs of the group included white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration. The KKK met at a convention, the “Invisible Empire of the South,” in 1867. The first appointed leader in charge of the Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest (a former Confederate soldier, slave trader, and plantation owner). By the time 1870 rolled around, the beliefs of the men were spread to almost every Southern state.
The first wave of the Ku Klux Klan was the founders. This band of brothers lasted from 1866 to 1874. Their goal was to restore the white supremacy by using violence and threats, including murder against blacks, which later spread to including other racial groups. They took on the look of all white with masks and robes to complete their look and hide their identities when “attacking,” usually at night. Some of the members in the Klan claimed to be the ghosts of the Confederate solders to frighten superstitious blacks. At the end of 1867, there were one hundred ninety-seven murders and five hundred forty-eight cases reported of assaults. In April 1868, 1,222 Republican votes were casted but by the ...
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...ecific group of people in a population. It has shown to be prevalent through times of social or economic tension and has mainly been used to express practices of discrimination. They were not legal but were widely spread and commonly used. They mostly occurred against black men in the South of the United States, with its peak being in the early 1890’s. An institute had recorded that there had been three thousand four hundred forty-six blacks and one thousand two hundred ninety-seven whites lynched between 1882 and 1968. Records say that the Ku Klux Klan was responsible for most, but not all, of the lynchings of black men and other racial groups during this time period of 86 years.
The Congress introduced over two hundred anti-lynching bills during this time. The Republican Party promised to pass such a law and a bill was signed against lynching in January 1922.
The population of African Americans from 1865 to 1900 had limited social freedom. Social limitations are limitations that relate “…to society and the way people interact with each other,” as defined by the lesson. One example of a social limitation African Americans experienced at the time is the white supremacy terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan or the KKK. The KKK started as a social club formed by former confederate soldiers, which rapidly became a domestic terrorist organization. The KKK members were white supremacists who’s objective was to ward off African Americans from using their new political power. In an attempts to achieve their objective, Klansmen would burn African American schools, scare and threaten voters, destroy the homes of African Americans and also the homes of whites who supported African American rights. The greatest terror the KKK imposed was that of lynching. Lynching may be defined via the lesson as, “…public hanging for an alleged offense without benefit of trial.” As one can imagine these tactics struck fear into African Americans and the KKK was achiev...
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 states, and express the Klan’s political influence on both the local and state governments. The author starts with Texas and Oklahoma, and goes through the history of the Klan geographically, finishing with New Jersey and Washington. The author stresses that the KKK did not just commit acts of violence towards minorities, but also carried political power. He continues to discuss the impact of the Klan on Civil Rights movements in the 1960’s, and various other important political controversies between the 1920’s and 1970’s. Towards the middle of the book, David M. Chalmers focuses on portraying the feelings of governments and state legislatures, as well as normal citizens towards the Klan. To do this more effectively, the author uses excerpts and quotes from editorials and newspapers, along with several dozen pictures. The conclusion of the book was used mainly as an overview of all of the major incidents and deaths involving the Klan, and how their persistence has allowed them to still exist today despite a lack of resources and support.
Hatred, violence, and pure evil are some words that can describe one of the most infamous
The Ku Klux Klan was the most prominent organization and was established in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee. The original intent, a social club for former confederate soldiers, soon altered and changed to a terrorist organization. After the Klan was transformed into a terrorist organization, they were responsible for thousands of deaths and remarkably weakened the political power in the south of blacks and republicans. WGBH 1) Although many Americans associate Klan activity with the South, particularly Georgia and Alabama, the largest, most powerful states of the organizations were those of the Midwest, and especially Indiana in the early 1920’s where the Klan gained its greatest influence and highest level of membership for any state (Moore 2 ).
Lynching: the mob murder of someone who might be considered a public offender. While white Southerners may have considered themselves vigilantes, in reality they were killers with biased intent. In the Southern United States during the 1960s, lynching occurred frequently relative to standards such as today. Though lynching changed the lives of people directly connected to victims, they also changed mindsets and actions where they occurred and around the nation. Thus, the motives of racial based lynching and the crimes themselves affected people, legislature, and culture in the South for years to come.
As the group expanded the Klan began to divide themselves into subgroups. It was a hierarchy starting with the Grand Wizard on the top of the chain and the Ghouls at the bottom. The Klan evolved into a more strict group over time but was still populated by irresponsible civilians. The group referred to themselves as vigilantes and enforcers of the law. The Klan had a police force, a court system, and if needed, executioners. The group felt that they were positively affecting the American Society. At this point violence was used but very rarely.
The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 and could be found in almost every southern state by 1870. In the south, the KKK was turned into a tool for white resistance for the Republican Party’s Reconstruction era policies, which were aimed at establishing political and economic equality for black people. Due to the Reconstruction era policies, the members of the KKK waged an underground campaign of violence and intimidation directed at white and black Republican leaders. The KKK saw one way to its primary goal: the reestablishment of white supremacy through Democratic victories in the state legislatures all throughout the south. This was accomplished, causing the gradual increase of white supremacy in the south while the Reconstruction era waned.
In the article America’s Most Infamous Hate Group The KKK by Jessica McBirney, the author's purpose is to tell me about the history of the KKK in the US and what the group was about. The KKK was a group that thinks that white people are better than other races. The KKK has gone through three different waves since the 1800s.
The history of lynching dated back to the American Revolution with Charles Lynch. Lynching was the practice of mobs of hundreds of people who will take the laws into their own hands to kill someone of their wrongdoing. The lynch mobs killed 4,743 people and 3,446 of them were black men and women. Lynching had ended between 1882 and 1968. Lynching is symbolic in history it dates back to slavery. The government didn't really do anything about the lynching mobs they had abandoned its oversight of constitutional prote...
The inequality seen in American history has impacted all American citizens in different ways. Through the years, the people living in America have seen the different measures variety of racist groups do to make certain people stay at the bottom of the hierarchy in American society. One group that targets African Americans is the Ku Klux Klan. They are better known as the KKK, who wear hooded white outfit covering their faces shielding their identities. They committed hate crimes that led to the injuries and deaths of countless people. Due to the actions the Ku Klux Klan have committed, they are judged by American people with numerous perspectives explaining how these groups have impacted their life in America.
known as, the K.K.K.. In 1866, six ex-confederate soldiers started a fraternal society. Taking from their college Greek fraternity, they took the term for circle, "kuklos." (“Ku Klux Klan”) They added the word "klan" for alliteration, and soon, the Ku Klux Klan was born. The members would go on “night raids” and during them, members would disguise themselves in masks made from potato sacks and long robes. The Ku Klux Klan soon became a political successor to the pre-war slave patrols in controlling newly freed blacks. Mostly in the South, Klansmen’s goal was to drive black men out of politics, control black labor, and overturn the new Republican state governments. Throughout the Ku Klux Klan’s reign, they have murdered thousands of African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan was an American born racist terrorist organization that prevented equality and assisted in the process of overthrowing Republican reconstruction in the South.
The KKK or Ku Klux Klan was an intimidating, yet important aspect during the 1920s. They were a violent group that affected much of America, by causing citizens to be fearful of change and manipulating with the government. Americans would join the KKK just because they were terrified of the change happening the the United States. At this time Americans was going through a dramatic transition. For this reason the KKK gained millions of new followers and began their destructive patterns towards certain groups. People wanted to join because propaganda showed them how powerful the KKK could be.
In 1868 an anonymous KKK member sent a threat letter to a black elected official in Lincoln County, GA. This letter suggested that he was a ghost sent by the KKK to control any African American who wanted to become an a public figure. The Klan had many intimidation methods that were considered unnecessary such as hanging in public and burning crosses. In the Virginia Vs Black case the supreme court decided that burning crosses in the attempt to intimidate is against Virginia law. There were many different ways that the KKK killed including, rapes and killings, lynching, house burnings, shootings and many more. They had many gruesome ways of killing and intimidating others making them feel
On December 24, 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was founded by General Nathan Bedford Forrest in Pulaski Tennessee. Many people, especially in the South, did not like the outcome of the civil war. They decided to take matters into their own hands. Group members would
The Klu Klux Klan was a terrorist group in 1865. They mostly targeted blacks, and people of different religion. They used different techniques of torture. The KKK did things like burn crosses, damaged people's property, and many other things to show people that they did not want them there. Sometime in the 1920’s the KKK starting showing up again but this time they came as people that no one would expect to see doing theses thing. The KKK used different means of advertising, they did not discriminate who they allowed in , and in some ways they much worse than they ever were before in 1865.