ipl-logo

What Was The Power Of The Ku Klux Klan During The 1920's

2058 Words9 Pages

The Ku Klux Klan is a group that practiced white supremacy through the violence and hatred of minorities. In the 1920’s during the Ku Klux Klan revival, this group had a lot of power and amassed a large following. With this power, they influenced and controlled politics which helped them successfully spread their ideologies throughout the country. An endorsement from the clan could make or break a politician's career. They also played a role in the economy because they would determine which businesses could succeed by controlling where their members shopped. This strength often depended on the region they were in or the size of the town, although they expanded to have branches all throughout the country. They made big changes in history and …show more content…

This mainly came about through the presidential candidates. The Klan and Klan supporters nominated the previous president, Coolidge. What they were upset about was the nomination of Al Smith. A Catholic man, and enemy of Coolidge, he was detested by the clansmen. The propaganda spread was detrimental to his career. He blamed him for the crime and “sinfulness” in New York. The vote was split very closely between the anti-Klan and Klan sides. Some of the Klan side's votes are also likely out of fear of the Klan. The Klan soon claimed another victory as Al Smith was no longer a threat and John W. Davis was nominated. This event gave the Klan some popularity and political recognition as well as gain. An example of use of this new power is the candidates running in Oregon. Oregon is considered by many to be one of the most racist states. In Oregon it was often klan friendly mayors were the ones running, having little to no competition to the point two klan friendly candidates would sometimes run against each other. Cities were soon starting to see more control from the clan. The mayors elected were more often clean friendly and wouldn’t appoint anyone who

Show More
Related

Who Killed Reconstruction Dbq Analysis

540 Words | 3 Pages

“ On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead.” “ About two days before they whipped me they offered me $5,000 to go with them and said they would pay me $2,500 in cash if I would let another man go to the legislature in my place.”. The KKK tried to silence a former slave who ended up becoming a Georgia State Legislature to drain the support of Reconstruction policies and to attack the empowerment of the African-American community he represented. As political violence was still a thing in the South the North started to become weary of fighting for equal rights.

Read More

Klu Klux Klan DBQ

514 Words | 3 Pages

To begin, the Klu Klux Klan is an organization whose purpose is to terrorize people of color. Dressed in all white, their identities are hidden as they attack in the dead of night. The KKK is founded by a group of confederate veterans in 1865, and their goal was to end Reconstruction. The Klan only recruited members who were male, white, and not Jew. Former Confederate Nathaniel Bedford Forrest tried to stop the organization for, “...the Klan’s violent tactics grew too extreme” (Source 1).

Read More

How Did Reconstruction Change The Social Structure Of The Northern And Southern States?

1262 Words | 6 Pages

Due to the ratification of the amendments, many southern elites could not stand the fact that African Americans were freed. One solution that was developed was to destroy reconstruction by murdering Black Americans. The Ku Klux Klan was then formed, this group consisted of vindictive Confederate Army veterans. Sought out to be heros to many southern democrats, but a nightmare for African American families. The Ku Klux Klan terrorized many African American families, burned down churches, drove thousands of families out of their homes, and caused great mayhem.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of The Reconstruction Era

415 Words | 2 Pages

Since the new amendments allowed equal rights, the former slaves were able to hold office, and many of them did. This allowed the government to incorporate a former slave's perspective and input when

Read More

Jfk Ethos Pathos Logos

906 Words | 4 Pages

With the Ku Klux Klan (a racist extremist group) expanding worldwide, the hate would be stretching rapidly across the land of the free. The United States needed someone to step to the plate and fix the big problem. The people needed someone who could not only fix the problem the US was facing, but

Read More

Ku Klux Klan In The 1920s

221 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

Reasons Why South Killed Reconstruction

869 Words | 4 Pages

The KKK is a terrorist organization that want to have control over voting and opposed Reconstruction. People were sometimes killed if they didn’t listen to the KKK. The KKK wouldn’t just kill someone, they would torture them. People were also killed if they voted for something that the KKK did n’t like or if they supported Reconstruction.

Read More

Cultural Clash In The 1920s

823 Words | 4 Pages

By 1868, the KKK grew in size and strength. They evolved into “The Invisible Empire of the South,” a hooded terrorist organization. The KKK’s first “Grand Wizard” was Nathan Bedford Forrest who was a confederate general during the Civil War. In the times leading up to 1868, the KKK’s violent activities skyrocketed in speed and brutality. In 1868, the presidential election was won by Republican Ulysses S. Grant with the slogan “Let Us Have Peace” (American Experience).

Read More

What Was The Impact Of Reconstruction On African Americans

945 Words | 4 Pages

Southerners felt as though they were being given the short end of the stick, when in reality roles were just being evenly distributed. The impact that reconstruction had on southerners was viewed as wrong in their eyes. However, on the flip side the reconstruction was simply making things fair, which they didn't like. With the reconstruction people were now justifying and murder against blacks, simply stating that it would essentially put things back into order. From this hate, hate organizations, as I mentioned previously, were created.

Read More

Reconstruction Of African Americans During The 1900's

859 Words | 4 Pages

The Klu Klux Klan was a terrorist clan that consisted of the white elite or white plantation owners. This terrorist group started in 1865 and was a hate group for many different communities. The KKK was considered as a secret society who did their own form of oppression to the black community. Thankfully the government stepped in and the 3 enforcement acts was enforced. The 3 enforcement acts restricted the klan which was a huge success.

Read More

Was Reconstruction A Failure Of Reconstruction

989 Words | 4 Pages

The Ku Klux Klan, made up of former Confederate officers who idealized an antebellum Southern heritage, became folk heroes by terrorizing outsiders who challenged race relations by assisting blacks. Catholics, foreigners, former slaves, and their sympathizers were targeted for wanting to push reforms that went against the Southern way of life. As one historian points out, the KKK gained sympathy because they were seen as defenders and policemen of the people who protected the prevailing values of society, including Protestantism, whiteness, and genteel southern culture (Kinshasa 15). The KKK and its sister organizations were even sponsored by state governments, such as Kentucky and Mississippi, as a police force to maintain the status quo (Parsons 160). The presence of the Klan and other forms of white resistance offered white residents a form of security during this uncertain time period.

Read More

Successes And Failures Of The Reconstruction Era

1093 Words | 5 Pages

Whilst the election, around 1866, numerous white individuals and white groups like the Ku Klux Klan, thought that African Americans were not adequate to vote, and if they could they believed that they had to vote for anybody but the Republican party. For example, “ ‘I will not tell a lie … If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote the radical ticket.’ They set in and whipped me a thousand licks more.” The discrimination was sprung into action because the rights of African American individuals offended people, and caused others to conceal themselves, and were frightened to go and do things on their own, because of groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Read More

Difficulties Of Reconstruction

591 Words | 3 Pages

This was unacceptable to the latter as they believed political positions should belong to Southern white Democrats and them only. It was during this time that The Ku Klux Klan came about to “obstruct and destroy Reconstruction government, to assassinate or intimidate black and white Republican officials, and to use violence to prevent people from voting.” (Foner,Eric.) In other words, The KKK tried “to use violence to restore a system of white supremacy that's been disrupted by the coming of Reconstruction.”

Read More

Disenfranchisement Thesis

1601 Words | 7 Pages

From 1868 through the early 1870s the Ku Klux Klan functioned as a loosely organized group of political and social terrorists. The Klan’s goals included the political defeat of the Republican Party and the maintenance of absolute white supremacy in response to newly gained civil and political rights by Southern blacks after the Civil War. At first it was formed as a social club for Confederate soldiers after the war, but it soon progressed to be one of the biggest terror groups in American history. Most Klan action was designed to intimidate black voters and white

Read More

Progressive Reformers

1122 Words | 5 Pages

Mostly farmers, they focused their time on the regulation of the railroads and on bankers. (Knott & Miller, 1987, p. 34) The populists placed pressure on Congress which resulted in the creation of the Interstate

Read More

More about What Was The Power Of The Ku Klux Klan During The 1920's

Open Document