The Emergence of the KKK
The occupation by Union troops in the former Confederate states led to the development of the Ku Klux Klan. During the Reconstruction, the process of rebuilding that followed the Civil War, white supremacy reigned supreme in the Southern states (Trelease xxviii). However, early Reconstruction legislation limited the amount of power that whites had over blacks politically and socially. Implementations such as the Reconstruction Act of 1867 created a precedent that made blacks equal with whites, giving them their civil rights as well. Violence and uprisings caused President Grant to send in Union troops to put down the initial attacks and to sustain peace throughout the former Confederacy. These troops, though, caused hatred to run through the minds of the citizens of the South and resulted in more violent attacks. The troops, with their presence in the South, actually caused more harm than good. Terrorist organizations, the Ku Klux Klan being the most prominent and overpowering, began forming and meeting under the cover of darkness. With the withdrawal of the troops, President Grant put the lives of black people in the South in certain jeopardy. Violence immediately rose in the South and the Ku Klux Klan came into existence
It was during this time in the mid-to-late 1860s in Pulaski, Tennessee that an informal group of men began what was called a "social club" at first, named the Ku Klux Klan. Nathan Bedford Forest along with six other officers, after serving in the Confederate army during the Civil War, began the club in the South to be, "in effect, a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party" (Foner 425, Reconstruction). The Klan's actions were soon directed at the Reconstruction governments because of the dislike and hatred the KKK had for them. In becoming more powerful and having a membership of up to 40,000 by 1868, the KKK became more forceful in their tactics to have Democrats elected into offices around the Southern states (Tourgee 30). The occupation of Union troops in Southern territory aggravated them to the point that there was hatred toward the Union. It was at this time period that the KKK formerly came into existence for the first time. Foner, Eric. Politics and Ideology in the Age of the Civil War. New York:Oxford
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Approximate Word count = 2128
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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