The Ku Klux Klan

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The Ku Klux Klan
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After the Civil War

• Slavery had ended with the 13th Amendment - 1865
• Republican Congress (Lincoln) also wanted to end
  the white power structure in the South
• Govt program called Reconstruction was
  created to rebuild the South fairly for all
• Recon. did two main things - Force Acts
• Held new elections at all state levels (South)
• Tried to protect Blacks right to vote
• 14th Amendment - 1866 Gave citizenship to all
  Black men (voting is a right of citizens)
• The Goal elect some Black representatives

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Creation of the Klan

• Southern whites didnt want Blacks to be equal
• Didnt want to be governed by Blacks
• 1866 - Klan created mostly by former white
  Confederate soldiers
• Wanted to keep White Power in the South
• Maintain white supremacy (state of being better)
• Wore white hoods and cloaks to hide their
  identity and create fear
• Used violence to scare away Black voters
• Also targeted white supporters of Blacks
  and new immigrants
• Violence spread to Black businessmen
  and politicians who supported blacks

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Klan Violence

• Violence happened at night
• Klansmen burned a cross as a warning
  - watch out
• Victims were also dragged from their beds
  and taken into the street
• Victims were tortured, whipped, and beaten
  houses burned
• Many Blacks were lynched
• Lynching murdered by hanging
• People lived in fear
• White police did little often secretly
  participated
• Despite Congress passing the 15th Amendment that
  gave the vote to all men 1869
• Over time, White Power was restored in the South
• The Klan disappeared by the end of the 1870s

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Return of the Klan

• 1915 Klan was revived by a preacher (William J.
  Simmons)
• Based on a book Birth of a Nation
• Preached racial purity (to be pure or clean)
• Targeted Blacks
• Also Jews and Roman Catholics
• Socialists and Communists
• And anyone they considered foreigners
• 1925 - Klan grew to 4 Million nationwide
• Became involved in politics
• Violence was brought back too
• Southern courts rarely convicted
  Klan crimes
• Klansmen held protests and marches
• Performed rituals, ceremonies
• Wanted to preserve the White
  American way