After the Civil War was over it was nearly impossible for many of the Southerners to go back to their lives. They no longer had slaves, their family and friends were killed, and their homes and land were destroyed. The state government no longer existed and northern soldiers were now in charge. The whites’ right to vote was gone, and it instead was given to the uneducated former slaves. Six white men met on Christmas Eve, 1865, in Pulaski, near the Alabama border of Tennessee to form a club which would help support the former Confederate soldiers after the restless days of the Civil War and to have fun. They made white ghost like costumes that covered everything but their eyes, nose, mouth and hands. They began referring to their secret organization as the ‘jolly six’ or the ‘thespians’. They rode around the town dressed up as ghost of Confederate soldiers in order to scare the ex-slaves. The club name however, was changed to Ku Klux Klan after the Greek word ‘kuklos’, which means circle and the word ‘clan’, which means family. Although the Klan was originally just a group of men trying to have fun, it became much more than simply just a fringe movement; it became a central part of American society.
The Klan started off as a fun way for men to forget about how hard life was. After the KKK was created, the members developed titles for the various officers, choosing the most preposterous (change word maybe?) names possible. The outrageous names were chosen for the fun of it, but also to keep the organization separate from the government and the military. Initiation ceremonies for new members were also developed. The ceremonies were similar to hazing done in colleges and clubs. The new members were blindfolded and forced to perform silly (word choice?) acts and recite ridiculous oaths. They were then brought to the ‘royal altar’, which was actually a mirror, and where the ‘royal crown’, which was actually two donkey ears, was placed on their heads.
Even though, the Klan was started by six men in Tennessee its popularity quickly spread, as more and more people learned the power that they had. They were able to use fear to get the newly freed blacks and their supporters to act as they wanted. Places where the economic distinction between the blacks and the whites was less pronounced accepted the Klan a...
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...aused General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Klan leader to order the Klan to disband. The Klan disbanded in January of 1869, but that did not stop the violence, it just made the violence less organized.
In order to put a permanent end to the violence the Congress held hearings in 1971. They passed tough anti-Klan laws. The Southern whites lost their authority over the crimes of assault, robbery, and murder. Wearing masks and night riding was made extremely prohibited. And hundreds of Klansmen were arrested. By the mid 1970s the white Southerners had control over their own government and there was no longer a need for the Klan.
The Ku Klux Klan which started as a group of men trying to have fun during a hard time was much more than just a fringe movement. It turned into an organization that had great influence and destroyed the lives of many people. The Klan was able to use fear and terror to support the idea of white supremacy. But in a changing country the Klan was unable to survive. In the beginning of the twentieth century the Klan started up again, but it will never achieve all of the power that it had, in a country where equality is preached. (idn do what you want with that)
Hooded Americanism: The First Century of the Ku Klux Klan: 1865 to the Present by David Chalmers records the history of the Ku Klux Klan quite bluntly, all the way from its creation following the civil war, to the early 1960’s. The author starts the book quite strongly by discussing in detail many acts of violence and displays of hatred throughout the United States. He makes a point to show that the Klan rode robustly throughout all of the country, not just in the southern states. The first several chapters of the book focus on the Klan’s creation in 1865. He goes on to discuss the attitude of many Americans following the United State’s Civil War and how the war shaped a new nation. The bulk of the book is used to go through many of the states, and express the Klan’s political influence on both the local and state governments. The author starts with Texas and Oklahoma, and goes through the history of the Klan geographically, finishing with New Jersey and Washington. The author stresses that the KKK did not just commit acts of violence towards minorities, but also carried political power. He continues to discuss the impact of the Klan on Civil Rights movements in the 1960’s, and various other important political controversies between the 1920’s and 1970’s. Towards the middle of the book, David M. Chalmers focuses on portraying the feelings of governments and state legislatures, as well as normal citizens towards the Klan. To do this more effectively, the author uses excerpts and quotes from editorials and newspapers, along with several dozen pictures. The conclusion of the book was used mainly as an overview of all of the major incidents and deaths involving the Klan, and how their persistence has allowed them to still exist today despite a lack of resources and support.
These actions of white supremacists took place during the time of the presidential election of Ulysses S. Grant. The Ku Klux Klan was the most prominent organization and was established in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee. The original intent, a social club for former confederate soldiers, soon altered and changed to a terrorist organization. After the Klan was transformed into a terrorist organization, they were responsible for thousands of deaths and remarkably weakened the political power in the south of blacks and republicans. (WGBH
The Ku Klux Klan is the worst example of domestic terrorism in the Southern United States. In the movie A Time To Kill they played a large role in the trial of Carl Lee Hailey. Terrorizing those in support of black rights, the Klan threatened and killed anyone who called for the release of Mr. Hailey. Even though Carl was acquitted, black supporters and activists still have to feel like they lost the war because of all the tragedy that was caused over the duration of the trial. The KKK was and still is a horrific group, but with support from internal and external parties Carl Lee Hailey’s ruling was finally justified despite the negative influence from the Klan.
We study the beginning of America and the movement of settlers into a new land. Then we look at the formation of the United States through the Revolutionary War. But nothing has ever changed this country from the inside as much as the Ku Klux Klan invasion into the country. The Klan’s influence and ability to cause destruction within a society inspired leaders and dictators such as Adolf Hitler. During the height of the Klan’s power and influence, it was doing many things right. It had attracted mass amounts of people with a simple message and used them to complete a secret agenda. Had the KKK continued to find new ways of bringing people to their cause and working to achieve superiority first, they may have caused an unforeseen amount of damage to the United States. Mistakes that were made by the members grew attention to them and caused society to see them as they were. The Ku Klux Klan of the modern day is still alive. It is barely breathing but growing and changing everyday. The hate will live on through the young, but the good people in the world are the key to truly changing the world for the
The first wave of the Ku Klux Klan was the founders. This band of brothers lasted from 1866 to 1874. Their goal was to restore the white supremacy by using violence and threats, including murder against blacks, which later spread to including other racial groups. They took on the look of all white with masks and robes to complete their look and hide their identities when “attacking,” usually at night. Some of the members in the Klan claimed to be the ghosts of the Confederate solders to frighten superstitious blacks. At the end of 1867, there were one hundred ninety-seven murders and five hundred forty-eight cases reported of assaults. In April 1868, 1,222 Republican votes were casted but by the ...
The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 and could be found in almost every southern state by 1870. In the south, the KKK was turned into a tool for white resistance for the Republican Party’s Reconstruction era policies which were aimed at establishing political and economic equality for black people. Due to the Reconstruction era policies, the members of the KKK waged an underground campaign of violence and intimidation directed at white and black Republican leaders. The KKK saw one way to its primary goal: the reestablishment of white supremacy through Democratic victories in the state legislatures all throughout the south. This was accomplished, causing the gradual increase of white supremacy in the south while the Reconstruction era waned. The KKK ended up disbanding in the waning years of the Reconstruction because of the Ku Klux Klan Act. This act designated certain crimes committed by Klan individuals to be federal offenses, including conspiracies to deprive citizens of the right to hold office, serve on juries and enjoy the equal protection of the law. The act also authorized
The Ku Klux Klan was established shortly after the American Civil War in 1866 and was prevalent in most southern states by 1870. The group was driven by violence and racism to combat the post war equality legislature that was beginning to pass in Congress. Since then, the Klan has had a long history that has had an impact on America on several levels. There has been a recent strong effort to put an end to their irrational destructive behavior towards African Americans, Hispanics, Jews, Homosexuals, and many more.
As the group expanded the Klan began to divide themselves into subgroups. It was a hierarchy starting with the Grand Wizard on the top of the chain and the Ghouls at the bottom. The Klan evolved into a more strict group over time but was still populated by irresponsible civilians. The group referred to themselves as vigilantes and enforcers of the law. The Klan had a police force, a court system, and if needed, executioners. The group felt that they were positively affecting the American Society. At this point violence was used but very rarely.
With the passing of The Civil Rights Act of 1866, many white southern men went to resist the rights of the former slaves. One of the ways southerns resisted the act was through an organization known today as The Ku Klux Klan. This group was formed by six former Confederate soldiers in Pulaski, Tennessee. When it was first established, it was not intended to inflict any violent attacks; it was just a social club for the ex-Confederate soldiers. In 1866, there were outbreaks of violence throughout the south between whites and blacks. In Memphis, a disagreement between former black and white soldiers turned into a deadly riot with the assistants of white policemen. This riot left at least forty people dead, seventy people wounded and burned down many buildings. In July, there was a violent outbreak in the city of New Orleans at a black suffrage convention. This assault left an estimated thirty-seven people dead, including three white allies. With the attacks and aggression between blacks and whites in south, by 1868 ‘The
The Ku Klux Klan was founded in May of 1866, in Pulaski, Tennessee by six veterans of the Confederate Army. The early years of the Klan's existence were focused mainly on restoring white power in the government. The Klan often spoke against Radical Republicans, the political party that most supported the rights of former slaves. At first the Klan seemed relatively harmless. But as time went on, the so called white supremacists showed how far they were willing to go to fulfill their craving for America to go back to its former ways.
Hooper delivers his sermon, which is about how everyone has a secret sin that acts as a barrier between themselves and the others around them, with a black veil covering his face, “each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought.” (106). The message of his sermon, paired with the veil, causes the townspeople to feel as if Mr. Hooper can see their individual secret sins and expose them to the public, which, in a Puritanical society, makes one vulnerable to public punishment or ostracism by the community. Due to their fears of having their Christian facades shattered and their subsequent sinful natures revealed, the townspeople alienate the minister. This reflects hypocrisy in the sense that their fears come from knowing they are essentially living double lives, which causes more hypocritical behavior to arise in the form of treating their minister in quite the opposite way one should treat a human being, especially one who serves the church in such a high position. Furthermore, on his deathbed, Mr. Hooper points out the townspeople’s hypocrisy when he exclaims, “Why do you tremble at me alone? Tremble also at each other. . . .I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (118). Through this exclamation, he is trying to urge the townspeople to reveal their secret sins and stop hiding under a
...hin the upper echelons of their organization. Many of their members that were still with them finally had enough and their membership plummeted into the thousands. The leaders were cracked down on by federal prosecutors, and by that time, the Klan was dissolved. (Lay)
The group spread throughout almost every southern state by 1870. It became a way for white southerners to resist the Reconstruction policies that came forward attempting to create social and economic equality for the newly freed slaves. Members of the KKK used violence and intimidation as tactics against white and black republican leaders. They wanted white supremacy to be restored in the United States. Therefore, they terrorized any African-American that attempted to be a part of the government. It is estimated that “at least 10% of the Black legislators elected during the 1867-1868 constitutional convention became victims of violence during Reconstruction, including seven who were killed”(History). The KKK wasn’t alone in these efforts; they were joined by groups such as the Knights of White Camelia and the White Brotherhood. Wearing masks and the signature white robes and hoods, the group usually performed their attacks at night. Although Reconstruction was meant the bring equality to African-Americans, they were pushed into silence through violence and intimidation. The biggest issue with the Klan was the fact that “local law enforcement officials either belonged to the class or declined to take action against it, and even those who arrested accused Klansmen found it difficult to find witnesses to testify against them”
The political force moved away from the painstakingly and time-consuming technique of multilateral tariff negotiations to smaller regional and bilateral provisions - the Regional Trade Agreement. In these arrangements; members accord preferential treatment , basically agreeing to liberalize the exchange of goods and services amongst each another giving regard to certain trade barriers. RTA is not the first-hand way of trade liberalization though. Initially, when multilateral trade discussions used to happen, two-sided and multiparty FTA”s filled the vacuum. There were restrictions from stringent and premeditated trade arrangements earlier, thus a lot of states are now moving towards freer trade for their own benefits.
This is expressed through the artists expression of the elderly woman 's haggard appearance. The exhausted expression in her face, how her attire is worn and hanging off her, the baskets she is carrying that clearly are almost dragging on the ground, and her poor posture. This elderly woman was of good socioeconomic status due to the ivy in her hair and her attire. Although despite her status and the fact that she was elderly she was haggard from a long day of working at the market place. The chickens and fruit represent life as it once was, from a more simpler time. The fact that she had to work in the marketplace to earn money was an indication of the changing times and desire for