Indiana Klan

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The Indiana Klan was a part of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in the United States that organized in 1915 to affect public affairs on issues such as prohibition, education, political corruption, and morality. In Indiana it became popular because it was mostly a strong anti-Catholic group, that also opposed Jews and blacks. Along with this, it opposed immigration from southern and eastern Europe. The Indiana Klan did not always practice violence. It used intimidation in certain cases but nationally it practiced racism and terrorism against minority and religious groups. The Indiana Klan rose to height in the early 1920s after World War I, when ethnic Protestants felt threatened by social and political issues. Which included changes …show more content…

Stephenson. He was active in the local Democratic Party and he ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic congressional primary of 1922 as an anti-prohibition candidate. Even though he was unsuccessfully in running, the Klan grew roots in the Democratic political party. He was more successful with recruiting and organizing new members. The Klan averaged 2,000 new members per week from July 1922 to July 1923, when he was appointed as the Grand Dragon of Indiana. He led the Indiana Klan and other chapters to break away from the national organization in late 1923. By 1925 over half the elected members of the Indiana General Assembly, the Governor of Indiana, and many other high-ranking officials in local and state government were members of the Klan. Politicians had also learned they needed Klan endorsement to win office. During 1924 the Klan was a powerful force that backed the winning Indiana governor candidate Ed …show more content…

When the men returned home after WW2, they developed a since of Nationalism. They were proud to be Americans and they wanted to keep their homeland as pure as it can be. The Klan ideas of 100 percent Americanism and White supremacy supported the new cultural love of their nation. For the immigrants who were not Protestant or white, the Klan was full of racial hatred. But if you were protestant or white, the Klan was a way of life no different than any other recreational

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