The Ku Klux Klan

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The Invisible Empire of the South, also known as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), has been a major role in shaping the views of the United States and the South, particularly speaking the eleven former states of the Confederacy. From significant national figures, down to the local county councilman, evidence of the Klan being involved in politics is clearly there. One also cannot rule out the amount of legislation that the Klan has affected due to its terrorist-like tactics. It can definitely said that the KKK not only impacted government and policy making, but it affected Southern life. Since the formation of the first Klan after the end of the Civil War, it has been clear that the KKK will not stop at nothing to ensure the continuity of the white supremacy, especially in the South. The Invisible Empire clearly had a good hold on Southern politics throughout the height of their existence. The critical time periods in the Ku Klux Klan’s history can be simply broken down into separate “Klans.” Former Confederate soldiers in Pulaski, Tennessee formed the first Klan around a year after the end of the Civil War. Soon after, Nathan Forrest, a former Confederate lieutenant general, was named the “Grand Wizard” of the organization. The “main objective of white supremacy organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, the White Brotherhood, the Men of Justice, the Constitutional Union Guards and the Knights of the White Camelia was to stop black people from voting” and restore the white supremacy the South saw prior to the Civil War ("Effects of the Klu Klux Klan"). At this point, Klansmen would ride at night through towns brutally intimidating, blacks and radical Republicans. These tactics got so bad that in 1870, Congress began passing the first of three... ... middle of paper ... ...partacus Educational. Jim Simkin, Sept. 1997. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. "Ku Klux Klan." SPLCenter.org. Southern Poverty Law Center, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. Lay, Shawn. "Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century." New Georgia Encyclopedia. N.p., 7 July 2005. Web. 06 Dec. 2013. McCloud, Peter. The History and Political Impact of the Ku Klux Klan. N.p., 18 July 2003. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. "Mississippi Burning." Mississippi Burning. Jim Simkin, Sept. 1997. Web. 06 Dec. 2013. "Mississippi Burning Trial: A Chronology." UMKC.edu. University of Missouri-Kansas City, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Pianin, Eric. "A Senator's Shame." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 19 June 2005. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Woodard, J. David. The New Southern Politics. Second ed. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2013. Print. "16th Street Baptist Church Bombing." Spartacus Educational. Jim Simkin, Sept. 1997. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

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