The Ku Klux Klan: The First Era
With the ending of the Civil War in 1865, the period of American history known as
the Reconstruction began. It was during this era that the Ku Klux Klan, a white
supremacist group, spunoff from the freemasons, first came to power. The Freemasons
usually tended to attract people in the upper-middle class, while the KKK and Knights of Labor, another racist group, attracted the working class.
The KKK was formed mostly to restore the “peculiar institution” of slavery to
America and to reinstate the Caucasian race as the most superior race in the world. A former Confederate general and Freemason, Nathan Bedford Forrest, founded the Klan in 1866 because Negroes were being allowed to enter the brotherhood of freemasonry. He served as the Klan’s first Imperial Wizard, and Albert Pike, another freemason, held the office of the Chief Justice of the KKK. He held this office while he was simultaneously Sovereign Grand Commander of Scottish Rite, Freemasons, Southern Jurisdiction. His racism was well known, and in justifying his actions, he stated “I took my obligation to white men, not to Negroes. When I have to accept Negroes as brothers or leave Masonry, I shall leave it.” (1)
The bare facts about the birth of the Ku Klux Klan and its revival a half century
later are baffling to most people today. Little more than a year after it was founded, the secret society thundered across the war-torn south, sabotaged Reconstruction
governments, and imposed a reign of terror and violence that lasted three or four years. And then, as rapidly as it had spread, the Klan faded into the History books. After World War I, a new version of the Klan sputtered to life and brought many parts of the nation under its paralyzing grip of racism and bloodshed. Then, having grown to be a major force for the second time, the Klan again receded into the background. This time it never quite disappeared, but it never again commanded such widespread support.
The origin of the Ku Klux Klan was a carefully guarded secret for years, although
there were many theories to explain its beginnings. One popular notion held that the Ku Klux Klan was originally a secret order of Chinese opium smugglers. Another claimed it was begun by Confederate prisoners during the war. The most ridiculous theory attributed the name to some ancient Jewish document referring to the Hebrews enslaved by Egyptian pharaohs.
On November 9, 1920, Byron de la Beckwith, an only child, was born to Byron De La Beckwith, Sr. and Susie Yerger in Sacramento, California. One of Beckwith’s early childhood memories was of the Ku Klux Klan marching through town, fully clad in their long white robes. During the twenties, there were over two million known members of the Klan and at least two were U.S. Senators. Needless to say, this left quite an impression on the young boy. Beckwith’s father died in 1926, his debts exceeding the value of his estate, leaving Susie and Byron Jr., whom they had nicknamed “Delay”, destitute. Susie left California, along with her son, for her native Greenwood, Mississippi. Beckwith’s mother passed away a few short years later, leaving Beckwith rearing to one of her cousins.
A few years ago, my mother told me something thought provoking: we had once lived on the same block as the leader of the local Ku Klux Klan chapter. That had been in Charlotte, North Carolina, around 1994. The Ku Klux Klan, according to Blaine Varney in Lynching in the 1890’s, used to “…set out on nightly ‘terror rides’ to harass ‘uppity Negroes’….” They are far more infamous, however, for their “lynching”—nightly “terror rides” that included murder—of African Americans. Varney tells us lynching levels reached their pinnacle in 1892, with 161 recorded murders that year. In modern times, most Americans would agree that the Klan, along with any form of white supremacy, has no place in society—and pointing out its survival is a good way to imply that we, as a people, are still not perfect.
During WWI, the United States military armed African-American soldiers and sent them to fight on the front lines. Returning home at the end of the war, many white veterans resented the arming of these African-American soldiers. Conversely, the returning African-American soldiers greatly resented being sent home and back to a life as a second class citizen. Perhaps as an effort to seek some kind of revenge on the black soldiers, or possibly as an attempt to quell the slowly growing equality of African-Americans, the Klu Klux Klan experienced a drastic upswing in membership during the 1920s. Originally founded in 1865 the Klu Klux Klan experienced an upswing in membership during the 1920s after the war. The Klan opened its first base in Oregon after its revival in central California. Historians note that one reason why many influential white Americans may have supported the Klan was because the Klan was in favor of prohibition, the ...
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.
Around 1871 and 1872 Reconstruction started to decline. The main change of ideologies was presented thanks to the unpopularity of the Republican Party and the fear present mainly by the white population. After the reconstruction acts; which represented an effort to crush anti-black sentiment and to assure black votes and the Federal Army was moved away southern whites feared the power that African Americans were acquiring and decided to act upon it. The fear can be seen in a quote General Gordon “Our people have always flet that if the white troops of the Federal Army could have been stationed in those negro belts we would have been safe” (Wish, p.162) During the reconstruction era, white supremacists groups such as the KKK came into play. They were dedicated to raising terror in black communities and challenged their political and social views as well as white people that supported the black cause; although many members of this organization believed they were acting as a “peace police”(Wish, p. 153). Later on, political power swayed towards political and social white supremacist views. This can be seen during the compromise of 1877. There was a great dispute during the presidential election of 1876. Republican Hayes and Democrat Tilden fought for the White House. Eventually they came to the agreement that Hayes would be president if he removed federal
...manding, and we expect to win, a return of power into the hands of the everyday, not highly cultured, not overly intellectualized, but entirely unspoiled and not de-Americanized, average citizen of the old stock. The KKK has now come to speak for the great mass of Americans of the old pioneer stock" (Document D.) By 1923, Klan membership grew to five million. However, there was a sharp decline in members within a decade, showing how the new frameset of mind took over the old quickly. Accept the new, changing world around them. They represented the old, racist values long thought to have been delegated to the South.
In the first few years of the Reconstruction, violent acts against the former slaves took place primarily in the south. In 1866, about one year after the civil war, the most well renowned terrorist group of the time, the Klu Klux Klan, took shape in Tennessee. In 1866, the Civil Rights Bill was proposed in Congress. At the time, it was referred to as, “one of the most important bills ever presented to the House for its action.”
The KKK is the hooded legend of the past, present, and likely the future of the United States. Their stories of death and destruction across the United States and the midwest have frightened many of color and those of certain backgrounds and delegations for years.The history of the secret organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, goes back to 1865. The Ku Klux Klan began as a social group for Confederate veterans after the end of the civil war. On December 24th of the year 1865, the secret society that would change a nation, was born .
"Ku Klux Klan." UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Vol. 5. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 882-884. U.S. History in Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
White Southerners who hated blacks started the Ku Klux Klan in 1866. It was also called the KKK. They tried to stop black people from voting and having other civil rights. They would wear white sheets and masks with pointed hoods. They would beat up blacks and public officials. They would burn crosses by the houses of people they wanted to scare. The KKK was declared illegal in 1...
The KKK or Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by former Confederate Soldiers. Some of the founders of this organization consisted of; Captain John Lester, Major James Crowe, and Richard Reed to name a few. Their main target at the time was blacks and any white person that stood with them. The Ku Klux Klan was the head of the racism movement in America. Being a hate group among minorities, they made them live in terror day in and day out. The KKK was the most feared group of people in the 1860’s.
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.
Imagine thousands of people dressed in white robes and tall pointy hats burning crosses, burning churches, and murdering innocent lives across America. Sadly these kinds of people did exist. They were called the Ku Klux Klan. This organization had it planned from the beginning to keep the whites above everyone. They wanted to stay at the supreme power and no one could ever be higher than them. The Ku Klux Klan is known everywhere as the most infamous and oldest hate group in America. This group had the goals of keeping African Americans in slavery and preserving segregation, putting protestants and whites over every race and religion, and being known as one of the most violent and feared people around the world.
In 1869 the Klan was disbanded by Forrest, this was the height of their membership with 500,00 members, because laws were created in the 1870’s to slow down their activities, such as the KKK Act and the Enforcement Acts, limiting their power in the south. Even though they were no longer active their threat was still lingering. They left a legacy in the United States of torture, havoc, white supremacy and black oppression that lasted for a century. The KKK were successful at achieving their goals of abolishing the Republicans ideas in the South and scaring many African Americans during the late
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