Violent Intimidation And Scare Tactics Of The Reconstruction Klan

One of the most used tactics by Klan, mainly the Reconstruction Klan, was fear. The Reconstruction Klan had a realization that in trying to be mysterious they gained the ability to "control the ignorant and superstitious African Americans and southern politicians from the north (1). So, groups of Klansmen in robes and other out of the ordinary costumes would visit African Americans and politicians whom they viewed as defiant (2). They would then proceed to use scare tactics in the form of "supernatural" events that played off the beliefs of dissenters' to keep people subdued (2).

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). Klan members would also terrorize and murder Republican leaders that voted for or instituted laws that went against the views of the Klan (4).

In a lynching, a mob of Klansmen and their supporters carry out a murder on an African American, usually in the form of a hanging (4). The mob would then leave the body out for a public display as a warning sign to others (6). If the victim was a women, sexual assault and rape were not uncommon nor were they out of the question (4). The most common reason for a lynching was that a black male had sought sexual relations with a white woman in some form (6). The Klan would carry out lynching's under the predication that they were protecting the community