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

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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

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