A group including many former confederate veterans, founded the first branch of the KKK as a social club. 1867 onward the KKK dedicated itself to an underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and voters. South turned against congress for help, resulting in three enforcement acts, the strongest was the KKK act of 1871. Due to their actions of victimizing and suppressing newly-freed slaves, the Ku Klux Klan spread throughout every southern state by 1870 and has been deemed America’s first terrorist group.
The Ku Klux Klan was first founded in 1866. It was made formed by a group of Confederate Veterans as a social group in Tennessee. Their overall leader was Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a Confederate General he was also known for his maxim, “Get there first with the most men,”(History.com staff, 2009, 1) Most of the Klan action was related to African-American voters and white supporters of the Republican party. January 1 through November 15, 1868, 336 cases of murder or assault with intent to kill freedmen across the state. Klan like violence was also used to control freed people’s social behavior. Unfortunately for them the black Georgians
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The KKK was to act as a restructured fraternity that supported white supremacy. William J. Simmons organized the charter for the new order, Simmons was a Colonel and Preacher. Simmons had a flair for the theatric, including the adoption of the fiery cross as the symbol of the Klan. According to Religion and the Rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1922 it says that the second Klan required its member to be not only white and male but also Christians. The KKK showed their allegiance to their faith through church attendance. The Miami Herald documented the Klans “weird” ceremonies from a distance. They noted both an altar containing a fiery cross and the American flag at a ritual where men swore their loyalty to their nation and