Ku Klux Klan Influence

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The Ku Klux Klan had a large influence on the lives of everyone in the Southern United States in the late 1800s throughout the early 1900s. To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the 1930s which was just after the Ku Klux Klan reached their largest capacity of members. The KKK was just one of the many problems that the very mature protagonist Jean Louise Finch faced as a child in To Kill A Mockingbird. Jean Louise was heavily influenced by many things including the KKK without directly having altercations with these things.

The Ku Klux Klan started in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866 was founded by multiple Confederate veterans. The first official leader of the KKK was Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He was a self taught leader that gained respect from many during his honored time in the Confederate Army. In …show more content…

What they did to candidates that did not agree with the Klan was very similar to what they did to jurors and judges. The KKK used extreme violence and random attacks to run away any competition to their favored candidate. Minorities would most likely end up voting in favor of the KKK supporter because they knew what could happen to them if they did otherwise. No one could or would stop the obvious torment because of the fear of what the Klan would do to anyone that questioned them or their beliefs. The influence of the KKK made the justice system extremely unfair. All black defendants faced a nearly impossible challenge of getting past the courts racism and or fear.

To Kill a Mockingbird helps readers understand that the KKK was a very common thing in the South. The KKK had a very large influence on the youth and their thoughts. To Kill A Mockingbird helps us see how the Ku Klux Klan was not random people from neighboring counties and towns, but the people that you have lived with since you were a child and your very own best

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