The Ku Klux Klansmen: An Analysis

South Rejection Destroyed the Reconstruction. After the civil war there were efforts sent out to reconstruct the south, and they went horribly wrong. During the civil war the south was totally destroyed. So the government decided to send help to rebuild the south’s economy and tradition.

The KKK thought they were holy men, torturing a people into submission. They thought they were clean and if you were black, by even a drop, you were unclean and

The Klan has inspired others to create their own groups to enforce white superiority; these groups would have parade floats, sponsored public events, free speakers and partake in cross burnings such as the KKK does. The Klan eventually expanded their violence towards small farmers, planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians, and many more. The KKK became so powerful in the regions where most of the Klan was, that members of the local police departments belonged to the KKK or they did not take any actions against the Ku Klux Klan. This problem only got worse; the people who were convicted to have been in the KKK could not find anyone to testify against them in court, so they never really got sentenced for any

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,

Of all our social issues during the World War one of the biggest topics of the time was The Ku Klux Klan. Stated that ” Klan members considered themselves defenders of Prohibition, traditional morality, and true Americanism. The Klan efforts were directed against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants.” This quote is explaining that the Klan was targeting people during the war. Instead of all Americans to unite together and work together peacefully to end this war in success.

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.

After talking about specific African Americans and their horrid encounters with the Ku Klux Klan, Foner writes, “While most white southerners were law-abiding citizens, they seemed willing to forgive the Klan’s excesses because they shared the organization’s ultimate goal—the overthrow of Reconstruction and the restoration of white supremacy,” (Foner 174). The fact that the Southerners were willing to forgive the KKK after they had killed and tortured hundreds of African Americans is appalling. Also, the quote proves that with so many citizens supporting the overthrow of Reconstruction, there was no chance that it would be successful in the long run because deep down, half of the nation did not care about the rights of African Americans. To add on, the opponents of Reconstruction despised it so much because they viewed it as an era of “Negro rule” as if the Blacks were trying to take over the country when in reality, they were just trying to achieve basic rights and protections from the government. In the epilogue, Foner states that the reason he wrote the novel was to accurately describe the sad truths of this era and to prove wrong the idea that Reconstruction's achievements outweighed its failures.

The KKK killed so many people, the powerful government thinking that whites and blacks are not equal, the leaders only wanting white people in power, and how all 1st class men are in the KKK, the south could not have made it any more difficult to change their ways and their

In 1926, there was a stout rise in the second Ku Klux Klan, claiming millions of members of prejudice and hatred. The corrupted mind is shown by the quote, “First in the Klansman’s mind is patriotism-America for Americans. He believes religiously that a betrayal of Americanism or the American race is treason to the most sacred trusts, a trust from his fathers and a trust from God.” (Evans, 1926). My interpretation of what this quote would mean in the context of the era is as follows.

This demonstrates the KKK’s brutal treatment of African Americans after the war. The KKK wanted to maintain dominance and slavery; therefore, they began to terrorize African Americans as well as Republicans. Individuals who publicly supported blacks were additionally attacked. The KKK heavily demonstrated white supremacy due to their loss in the Civil War. Certainly, the fall of the Confederacy negatively impacted many Southerners, so other racist groups similar to the KKK formed alike efforts throughout this period.

The clan spread fear and terror towards the blacks in a systematic way. Their reign of terror was felt throughout the south. It spread fear using guerilla tactics, whipping, beating, and lynching. The Klan’s purpose

Frederickson argues African Americans simply did not have the time or preparation to oppose racist forces. Using paramilitary forces, southern redeemers easily made threats to reconstruction forces as seen through the emergence of the violent Ku Klux Klan during the election of 1866. The opportunity for African Americans to gain a stance in society was short lived by the racist efforts of democrats in the south and impartial ideals from

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.

The analysis and finding of the Ku Klux Klan is that this extremist group is also associated as a hate group as time evolved with the definition of hate groups and todays extremist Christian groups. This data and finding has been accumulated from research of the origin of the Ku Klux Klan and their extreme actions in carrying out what they believed to be the right forum of saving America from those they identified as not being of American decent. Throughout history they have intimidated those whom are not so called pure white and their belief in racial superiority over all nationalities. These accounts have been verified though quantitative research approach though out history by historians.