Ku Klux Klan Research Paper

African Americans gained liberty and rights throughout the Reconstruction, which dissatisfied numerous of white southerners since most of them believed in white superiority. On that account, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded during 1865 in Tennessee. The KKK was a white underground terrorist group that aimed to regain white supremacy by starting a movement against the Reconstruction, targeting the African Americans and white Republicans. The constant attack caused by the KKK made numerous of black citizens fear to get involved in political activities such as running for a position in the office or vote. It also impacted the blacks socially by making the African Americans afraid to attend schools or go to churches. White southerners also withdrew

One reason why the KKK’s founded was because the ex-Confederates were restricted from voting and holding an office position, causing the Republicans to dominate the government. During a general election in 1868 at Arkansas, the Republicans candidates took eighty-two out of eighty-three seats, destroying the Democratic authority towards the government. The Republicans were satisfied since the Fourteenth Amendment was easily passed and they had full control of the new state government. However, the power of Democrats was displaced, and the fact that ex-Confederates couldn’t get involved infuriated the white southerners. Thus, the KKK started to terrorize the black communities and targeted any black supporters or white Republicans simultaneously. As the election neared, thousands of African Americans were threatened, beaten, or murdered by the Klan members. In Oglethorpe City, 1144 citizens voted Republican during April 1868 while only 116 citizens dared to vote Republican in November. The Democratic candidate was in the lead since blacks feared to engage in any political activities. There were around 260 black legislators during 1868 and the number continually increased until 1872, reaching its highest point. Nevertheless, after 1872, the amount dropped tremendously to the point where there are less than a hundred black legislators. During 1877, the government grew tired of the Reconstruction,

The Klansmen weren’t placated with the development of black schools and churches. Therefore, they burned down black schools and churches, destroying the freedmen's rights to attend schools and religious events. Throughout 1868 to 1871 in Alabama, hundreds of blacks got murdered and violence was spread everywhere. During 1870 at Calhoun County, there were six people from a black school that got killed by the KKK, yet barely any Klansmen were brought to justice. The KKK did control the freedmen’s social behaviors, but not as successful compared to the political terrorism. There were a few cases where the blacks fought back when the Klansmen attacked their churches and schools in Georgia. However, a great amount of African Americans did get terrified and harmed by the KKK throughout their attacks. This proves that the KKK’s aim to control freedmen’s social behavior by burning down their churches and schools did have a negative impact. The social freedom that the African Americans had previously gained were once again limited because they feared the threats. Moreover, it affected the blacks adversely since numerous of them gave up on receiving education and going to churches to take part of religious activities. From KKK’s perspective, if they limited the education that the African American receives and prevent the blacks from attending churches, it’ll make them more inferior since they’ll have