The KKK
"The Ku Kux Klan was formed as a social club by a group of Confederate Army Veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee around 1865. A Confederate General, Nathan Bedford Forrest, was the klan's first leader, whose title was Grand Wisard. White superiority was the philosophy of the Klan. And they would often use violence and terrorization of blacks as means of exercising this philosophied superiority. The Klan hated the idea of blacks getting any rights following the Civil War into the Reconstruction, and terrorized blacks to prevent them from voting in elections or practicing any other right. Blacks and white sympathizers were threatened, beaten or even murdered by the black Klan members in the South: the Klan used now familiar white robes and hoods to mask their identity.The Ku Klux Klan bacame known as the Invisible Empire as it grew and spread rapidly."(http://www.altered.com/dengue/kkk/history.html, pg1) There were social, political, and economical forces that led to the increase of the Ku Klux Klan activity during the 1920's.Many social forces existed that led to an increase in Klan membership in the 1920's "William J. Simmons, a former Methodist preacher, organized a new Klan in Stone Mountain, Georgia in 1915 as a patri
Political factors too, existed that caused the activity of the Ku Klux Klan to increase in the 1920's. "The 1920s marked the high point of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado. The Klan virtually gained control of state politics during the early part of the decade, and had many men in elective and appointive offices. Klansmen in Fort Collins could be found in courthouse offices and city hall. During one rally, sheet-covered KKK members marched from North College Avenue to Lincoln Park. However, the Klan did not place a significant number of its' people into local public offices." (http://www.altered.com/dengue/kkk/history.html, pg.2) The government did not work hard enough to stop the Klan members from going as far as they did with their terrorization towards those they considered to be un-american. "They came and went as they pleased, continuing to abuse thousands of families across the United States. They would not allow the white Southerners to vote for anything. All voting was granted onlt to the un-educated former slaves, and they were only allowed to vote, if they voted for the party in charge. An exaple to be made, is that of a banner displayed in Georgia voting booths during a presidential campaign that stated "Every man Negro that didn't vote for the Radical (Republican) ticket, this is the way we want to serve him: hang him by the neck". If they refused, of corse they were abused and even killed. So in essence, the voting process was just game playing. (MacLean, pg. 19) "Professing itself nonpolitical, the Klan nevertheless controlled politics in many communities and in 1922, 1924, and 1926 elected many state officials and a number of Congressmen. Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Oregon, and Maine were particularly under its influence. Its power in the Midwest was broken during the late 1920s when David C. Stephenson, a major Klan leader there, was convicted of second-degree murder, and evidence of corruption came out that led to the indictment of the governor of Indiana and the mayor of Indianapolis, both supporters of the Klan. The Klan frequently took extralegal measures, especially against those whom it considered its enemies. (MacLean, pg.22) "The impact of The Invisible Empire cannot be measured simply in body counts or people driven away from their homes. Any assessment of their damage over vast regions of the Southland must also count careers stunned, hopes blighted, and normal development crippled. Worst, this devestation lasted for decades." (Katz, pg.45) whippings, tar-and-feathers raids a
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Approximate Word count = 1695
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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