KU KLU KLAN

Thesis:
The KKK is a racist, anti Jewish and catholic movement with a commitment to violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy.

HISTORY

• Founded in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866
• Founded by a group of confederate officers

BASIC INFORMATION

• The first two words of the organization's name supposedly derived from the Greek word "kyklos," meaning circle
• The organization of the Ku Klux Klan coincided with the beginning of the second phase of post-Civil War Reconstruction
• First grand wizard was Nathan Bedford Forrest
• Government suppression lead to the demise of the first clan
• Clans goals included political defeat of the Republican Party

IN THE SOUTH

• extended into almost every southern state by 1870
• Former confederates, if not part of the KKK agreed with what they did
• The KKK did not have a strong leadership roll, instead they had many small branches spread throughout the south

REVIVAL

• In 1915, white Protestant nativists organized a revival of the Ku Klux Klan near Atlanta, Georgia, inspired by their romantic view of the Old South as well as Thomas Dixon's 1905 book "The Clansman".
• This second generation of the Klan was not only anti-black but also took a stand against Roman Catholics, Jews, foreigners and organized labor.
• The organization took as its symbol a burning cross and held rallies, parades and marches around the country
• At its peak in the 1920s, Klan membership exceeded 4 million people nationwide

VIOLENCE

• Attacked in large groups at night at the homes of carpetbaggers and former slaves homes
• Small attacks continued until mid 1870s when the government allowed federal troops to suppress the klan 
• Most clan actions were designed to intimidate black voters and white republican supporters
• There clothing came from an old slave myth