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Ku Klux Klan Research Paper

938 Words4 Pages

Kimberly Shirley
Mr. Andrew Turner
History 162
24 November 2014
The Rise of The Ku Klux Klan

In the winter between 1865-1866, the Ku Klux Klan was started in Pulaski, Tennessee. Also known as the KKK or the “invisible empire of the south”, the Ku Klux Klan originally started as a secret fraternity club by six confederate veterans. As the organization quickly started to grow, the Ku Klux Klan spread over the entire south. The Klan included every southern state along with mayors, sheriffs, judges and criminals. The name Ku Klux Klan derived from the Greek “kuklos” meaning circle and the English word “clan.” The costume or disguise was a white robe that had a pointed hood that the Klansman wore with masks on their face. The members of the Klan …show more content…

When the Klan started to grow rapidly, it became a terrorist organization. The Klan was known for it’s brutal killings towards blacks. The Ku Klux Klan beat, whipped, and murdered thousands and intimidated tens of thousands of others to keep them from voting during the elections. Blacks often fought back but they were outnumbered and many times they were out gunned. The main targets of Klan’s wrath were the political and social leaders of the black community, but blacks could be murdered for almost any reason. Men, women, children and the elderly were all victims of the violent crimes committed by the Ku Klux Klan. A one hundred and three year old woman was beaten and whipped along with a paralyzed man just because they were African Americans. In Georgia, a man by the name of Abraham Colby who was an organizer and leader in the black community was whipped for hours in front of his wife and children. His young daughter begged the Klansman, “Don’t take my daddy away.” In Mississippi, a man by the name of Jack Dupree had his throat slit and he was disemboweled in front of his wife, who had just given birth to …show more content…

African American landowners were driven off their properties and were murdered if they refused to leave. They were also whipped for refusing to work for whites, for having intimate relations with whites, for arguing with whites, and for having jobs that whites wanted. They could even be punished for reading a newspaper, having a book in their homes or simply just for being black. Many beatings and murders were never reported due to the fear of reprisal from the Klan. In a letter written by the Ku Klux Klan, a threat was made towards a man by the name of Davie Jeems, a black Republican whom was a newly elected sheriff in Lincoln County, Georgia. The letter read “To Jeems, Davie. you. must. be, a good boy. and. Quit. hunting on Sunday and shooting your gun in the night. you keep people from sleeping. I live in a big rock above the Ford of the Creek. I went from Lincoln County County during the War I was Killed at Manassus in 1861. I am here now as a Locust in the day Time and. at night I am a Ku Klux sent here to look after you and all the rest of the radicals and make you know your place. I have got my eye on you every day, I am at the Ford of the creek every evening From Sundown till dark I want to meet you there next Saturday tell platt Madison we have, a Box. For him and you. We nail all, radicals up in Boxes and send them away to KKK - there is. 200 000 ded men

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