Julian Mendez Mrs. Morales English 11 Honors Date: 3/11/24. Rise of the KKK in the 1920's. There are estimated to be about 7,000 members of the KKK today, but in the 1920’s that number peaked at around 3 million members. There are many iterations of the group, with the first group emerging in 1865. They eventually died out, but made a huge resurgence in the 1920’s. The KKK was a very important and infamous group in the 1920’s. The Klan came back after being inspired by one of the most controversial movies called “The Birth of a Nation” was made. They left a lasting impact on the decade and are still being talked about to this day. The KKK grew to enormous size by their easy accessibility, they got what they wanted done and got away with the things they are heavily associated with by getting members into …show more content…
They were an easy group to join if you crossed off the boxes that they required. In order to join the group, you have to be a native born citizen and a white Protestant. Anybody else was not allowed to be a part of the group, and was looked down upon. Another step to being a part of the group was to pay a simple $10 fee, which would then partly go to the recruiter. David Pietrusza discusses this in "The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's” stating, “It charged $10 to join (of which recruiters got a cut).” The cost to join shows just how easy it was for people to join the club. The group supported numerous things, but opposed many more. David Pietruza continues in the same article and best tells what exactly it was that the Klan supported and opposed saying, “It supported the recently enacted national prohibition on alcoholic beverages and opposed labor unions, immigration, and foreign entanglements such as the League of Nations. Klan members and leadership disliked Wall Street and big business in general, and chain stores in particular.” The club was very inclusive except when it came to the things that they opposed. So, if you crossed off their boxes, they