The Ku Klux Klan And The Civil War - 1296 Words

The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee and expanded to almost every southern state by 1870. The Ku Klux Klan started off as a social group full of Confederate Veteran’s. The first two words of their group came from the Greek word â€Å"kyklos† which means circle. They selected their first leader in the summer of 1867 who was Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest! This group started after the Civil War during Reconstruction. Violence from the Ku Klux Klan started in 1867 after the 14th amendment was approved in 1866. The Ku Klux Klan did not agree with decision the Republicans had made and they targeted blacks, and whites, and any republican voters. Their goal was to restore white supremacy in the South again and to†¦show more content†¦When they start recruiting members they had to answer ten questions dealing with the politics that were going on around that time with the Republicans, whites, blacks, society, etc. But the final question mattered the most it would determine if they were basically ready to resist federal force for they would be going against the Constitution and it stated â€Å"Do you believe in the inalienable rights of self-preservation of the people against the exercise of arbitrary and unlicensed power?† From 1860- to the early 1870s they were full of political and social terrorist. Although most of their actions were to intimidate black voters and white supporters of the Republican Party, the violence increased through 1868 from the whipping of black women and the murders of Republican leaders. The attacks on black were very often during this year the Freedmen’s Bureau reported 336 murder cases or attempted murder cases from January to November. Some blacks fought back against the Klan do to their new-found freedom and emancipation. The first Ku Klux Klan ended in 1872 after democratic success and victories and elections. Although the first Ku Klux Klan was fading away, there were still local groups with the same motives and goals as the Ku Klux Klan, they just weren’t a big successful organization. There were plenty of men that stated they had ridden with the original Ku Klux Klan and how they stopped Negro Domination from Georgia and the South. The start of theShow MoreRelatedThe Ku Klux Klan And The Civil War1186 Words   |  5 PagesYes: Shawn Lay rejects the view of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a radical fringe group comprised of marginal men and instead characterizes the KKK of the 1920s as a mainstream, grassroots organization that promoted traditional values of law, order, and social morality that appealed to Americans across the nation. No: Thomas Pegram, on the other hand, recognizes that Klansmen were often average members of their communities, but this did not prevent most Americans from denouncing the organization’s commitmentRead MoreKu Klux Klan And The Civil War926 Words   |  4 PagesKu Klux Klan During the Reconstruction Era, Congress passed many laws to provide equal rights to people of color. But at the local level, specifically in the South, many Democrats took the law into their own hands. They supported the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hoping to restore the pre-Civil War social hierarchy. 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The Activists had set up for many different reasons, the foremost ones being, to create a business or rather as a ‘social club’, invite members who were anti-Civil war and of course to restore white supremacy after theirRead MoreThe Historical Significance of the Ku Klux Klan Essays866 Words   |  4 PagesThe Historical Significance of the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan organization is very important in history but unfortunately it was a bad group of people who where racist. Also the end of the Civil war is a very significant part of history. As the struggle of blacks for freedom came to an end, a new form of struggle began to form. Political, social, and economic gains of blacks after the Civil war became really frightening!! The idea of whites loosing superiority over blacks feltRead MoreThe Fourteenth Amendment945 Words   |  4 Pagesratification altered the balance of state and federal power. 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