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Ku Klux Klan Research Paper

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Sam Beyda
3HR
April 26, 2015
History Term Paper “The Klan”
“The strongest thing about these Kuklux was that they did not hesitate to unmask themselves when asked to do so; and out of the whole party, none were identified. Every one who saw them says their horses were more beautiful than, and far superior to, any in the country round them. They spoke little, but always to a purpose. (“Movements of the Mystic Klan”, Shelby 1870)” The Ku Klux Klan is a native-born American racist terrorist organization that helped overthrow Republican Reconstruction governments in the South after the Civil War, and peaked during the 1920s. The Klan’s ideology can be described as a white supremacist group who wished to eradicate all other races. The history …show more content…

Formed in Pulaski, Tennessee, in December 1965 by six young men, the intention of this secret society was to alleviate the boredom of Confederate soldiers returning from war (Rambow, 65). They dressed up in costumes and engaged in horseplay to satisfy their boredom of the day and named the club “kuklos”. The Klan soon attracted much attention and appeal due to their secretivness and spread rapidly throughout the South. In 1867 the “loose allegiance” of Klan members met in Nashville, Tennessee with the intention of gaining unity, purpose, and a proper authority structure. As blacks gained the right to vote and therefore a voice and degree of influence in Southern politics, the Klan turned its attentions to destroying “the basis of Negro political effectiveness by driving out its leaders, white and black” and to secure “the political impotence and social subordination of the Negro” (Chalmers 14). The fundamental creed of the Klan became white supremacy. Leading Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was chosen as the first leader, or “grand wizard,” of the Klan. Nighttime “ghost rides” were used to intimidate and terrify blacks that wanted to exercise their “new rights and freedom”(Rambow, 66). Klan violence worked to suppress black voting. More than 2,000 persons were killed, wounded and otherwise injured in Louisiana within a few weeks prior to the Presidential election of November 1868 (Du Bois, 680). “Although St. Landry Parish had a registered Republican majority of 1,071, after the murders, no Republicans voted in the fall elections. White Democrats cast the full vote of the parish for Grant's opponent. The KKK killed and wounded more than 200 black Republicans, hunting and chasing them through the woods. Thirteen captives were taken from jail and shot; a half-buried pile of 25 bodies was found in the woods. The KKK made people vote Democratic and gave

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