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The Ku Klux Klan Was The Main Goal Of The Reconstruction Era

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The American Civil War is a war in which the Union and the Confederate States of America were pitted against each other because of one specific heated topic: slavery. There were a few other topics which caused this war to break out, but those topics were either far inferior to the topic of slavery or topics that were related to slavery in some way. In the United States, slaves were always of African descent. The Union, or the northern United States, ended up winning the war, therefore abolishing slavery everywhere. The Reconstruction Era then began, leaving African Americans to deal with many different issues which are still prevalent in society.
It is known that the main goal of the Reconstruction was to rebuild the relationship between …show more content…

The Ku Klux Klan has emerged in three different instances, but the Reconstruction Era is the time in which the original Ku Klux Klan first emerged. They wanted to maintain white supremacy throughout the country and to make sure African Americans did not overthrow what white people had created. By using strange disguises, having midnight rides, and by using a unique language and mysterious commands, they played upon the fears of African Americans. Usually, they succeeded in achieving their aims through only terror. However, sometimes they resorted to physical punishment to get what they desired. The Ku Klux Klan put fear into the hearts of African Americans, making them too afraid to do anything because of the possible repercussions that could occur. Moreover, this group made African Americans afraid to even vote, giving ex-Confederates political control over most of the southern states. Giving these people control during this time can be considered unconstitutional because it counteracts the Fourteenth Amendment, so Congress passed legislation to combat the Klan in 1870 and 1871. This legislation is known as one of the force bills. Hundreds of members were indicted and imprisoned, making this force bill one of the main reasons the Klan saw a large decline. Continuing to this very day, the Ku Klux Klan still makes various appearances, usually being in a small quantity of numbers. The last major recurrence of the Ku Klux Klan happened in the 1960’s, the most notable division being the White Knights led by Robert Shelton, which shows that the Ku Klux Klan will never fully die out. There will always be supporters of it, no matter what era the world is

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The kkk was flourished in the 1920s because in the 1920s was the time or the renaissance took place and began being popular to move out all of the African Americans because they thought they were beginning to be intellectual. The kkk believed that America was only a home to white christians and that all non caucasian people did not belong in the USA so the kkk members were 100 percent white and christian. The kkk burned barns, houses, and schools that only black people were allowed to go to, and beat black people. The kkk used photos, posters, and videos as propaganda.

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However, all acts of reconstruction were cut short when the South ultimately killed it. People like the Ku Klux Klan helped to ensure that reconstruction would be stopped and the South would regain its power. The Ku Klux Klan was one of the main groups of people that destroyed reconstruction because of their extreme ways. They used violence as a way to achieve their goal of destroying reconstruction. They killed many people just because of the color of their skin.

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The Klan would also instill fear by using violent intimidation and scare tactics. In the Reconstruction era, the Klan dedicated itself to an underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and their supporters (3). Violent intimidation and scare tactics took many forms with the Klan. African Americans and those who sought to help gain freedmen their civil rights were, threatened, assaulted, and murdered regularly (3). One extremely common thing for Klansmen to do was they would whip the teachers of freedmen's schools and then burn down the schoolhouses (4).

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However, by 1925, it was discovered that the KKK was a fraud and very corrupted. This caused the Klan’s influence and membership to decline expeditiously. Notwithstanding, the events that occurred in the 1920’s still had a positive effect on the lives of Americans because social reform during this time was the only reason why the KKK shrunk in size in the first place. Many people were able to become

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496 Words | 2 Pages

The Ku Klux Klan first emerged in Pulaski, Tennessee following the Civil War. As we know today, the mere mention of the Klan triggers fear as the KKK is known for its various tactics of violence that came in the form if lynchings, murders, and mutilations. Following their emergence, the KKK were quickly symbolized and portrayed as the protectors of the South, following the defeat of the Southern states in the Civil War and the beginning of the period of Reconstruction by the federal government (Gurr, 1989, p. 132). During the 1920s, the KKK achieved its greatest political success and growth outside of the South. During this period, the membership of the Klan heavily expanded to the states of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Oregon, to which the KKK obtained two to two and one-half million members at its apex.

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Originally designed as a club for ex-Confederate soldiers, the KKK became a “vehicle for Southern white underground resistance to Radical Reconstruction” (The Editors of). Members would attack recently freed slaves in an attempt to assert white superiority over blacks. Members could be found spread throughout the southern United States, including in levels of state and local government (The Editors of). Although the KKK saw membership dramatically decline due to growing racial tolerance in the United States, the late 20th century featured a revival of the group due to the Civil Rights movement. KKK attacks on supporters of the movement still occurred until the late 1980’s

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The American Civil War was a war fought within the United States of America between the North and the South states. Starting from 1861 and ending in 1865, this war was one of the most destructive events in American history, costing more than 600,000 lives. This unfortunate war started as a result of many years of differences between the Union and the Confederacy, between social issues, economic differences and political disagreements these states were putting a lot on the line. But the biggest disagreement of all, their opinions on slavery. As the South were for it and the North were free, it created the biggest controversy between the United States.

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The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1865 by six veterans of the Confederate Army. Over a period of three hundred years of slavery in America White slave owners built a sophisticated structure to sustain their brutally corrupt and immoral system. They founded “The Klan” to protect the interests of the white popularity. Evolving from the Slave Patrol to the Ku Klux Klan. The first generation was known for its brutal and immoral acts against immigrants and former slaves.

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African Americans had an extremely pivotal role in the outcome and consequences of the Civil War. This group of people were enslaved, and forced to work in horrible conditions, for the whole day, without pay. Slaves were one of the main causes of the Civil War. The issue of Slavery, which resulted in the eventual economic and social division between the North and South, caused the creation of the Confederate States. African Americans did not only unintentionally cause the war, but they also effected the outcome of the war, and the eventual consequences the nation would face after the war.

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The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist group that ruined the lives of millions of African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan founded in 1915 by a William J. Simmons, who was a Methodist preacher, who had groups, or “klaverns”, in Alabama plus Georgia. In American history there has been three waves of the Ku Klux Klan. First was the Reconstruction-era Klan. They started in the South towards the conclusion of the Civil War that had a few thousand members.

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While the Ku Klux Klan of the 1860s and of the 1920s had certain similarities and differences, these groups represent a particular American virtue: intolerance. In my opinion, this intolerance promoted the formation of the Klan. Camouflaging these hateful and violent crimes and righteous intentions is ignorant and prevents progress. Change is what molds a country into a better one. While I feel as though the United States today is a large accomplishment in terms of progression, I believe that the Klan was an unnecessary feature toward the improvement of our country and American

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The Ku Klux Klan was alive and strong during World War I reconstruction but during this era they disbanded. Almost 50 years later, after seeing a film called “Birth of A Nation”, Colonel William Joseph Simmons rejuvinized the Klan. For Simmons first act as new Klan leader he climbed to the top of a mountain and set fire to a cross to mark the rebirth of the KKK. Simmons acts as new Klan leader led the supremacist to nationwide membership of possibly up to 8 million. Membership of the Klan was not limited to just the poor or the South either.

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The Civil War and the period of Reconstruction brought significant political, social, and economic changes to American society, and these effects continued into the 20th century. Post Civil War (After the Civil War – The period after the Civil War) - President Abraham Lincoln and Congress were determined to rebuild the nation. Lincoln wanted to restore the Union by readmitting the southern states that had seceded, as well as provide African Americans with more rights. Period of Conflict -

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(Mcveigh 1464). The Ku Klux Klan induced terror on those they targeted after they were deemed un-American, for not being christian, and migrating from outside of the United States. "The son of an officer in the original Klan, he had always dreamed of reviving the order, which he envisioned as the ultimate fraternal lodge” (Mcveigh 1466). After the fall of the first Ku Klux Klan in 1870, the Ku Klux Klan began its resurgence in 1915, then rapidly gained support until they reached their peak in 1920. In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan saw a resurgence due to increased racism and xenophobia, which resulted in their increased racial violence, as well as political and economic influence in the United States.

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645 Words | 3 Pages

Former slaves who “tried to vote or participate in politics [were] likely to be singled out for “punishment”” by a terrorist organization named as the Ku Klux Klan, until the Congress passed the Force Bill in 1871 that gave the federal authorities the right to arrest and pursue active members of the KKK. But, the bill appeared to be only figurative as not really much of the Klan’s members were prosecuted (Hazen

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