How did the Ku Klux Klan begin?
In the year of 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was founded by a group of Confederates that wanted to make a secret society, and its purpose was because they were not agreeing to all the social changes and the reconstruction that was being done in the South. During the night, the Ku Klux Klan, would attack against the African Americans and the white Republicans. They would attack them during the night through the methods of intimidation, property destruction, assault and murder as well.
The KKK during the 1920's
During the second incarnation of the KKK in the 1920's, not only did target the African Americans, but they also attacked the Jews, Catholics, and foreigners. In order for them to promote their ideas on what America should look like they used the means of bootleggers, and motion pictures to show how America looked like when it was "cleaned". They wanted to appeal to the emotions of the Americans because many were afraid/ uncomfortable of changing America's nature, since they think that technology is not good, and that they should stay in a period where it was all nature in a way. By the mid 1920's the KKK would have gained a lot of members and the secret organization would have from 3 million to 8 million members. The Klan's plan of action during the 1920's was to move to different states to dominate and state and local politics. States like Indiana and Colorado, had enough members of the Klan in position of powers to dominate the state government, and this would be known as "Invisible Empire".
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/flood-klan/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kkk-founded
A very sad, but interesting topic to talk about. What were the motives of the KKK in the U.S. and why did membership matter to them? Did they have a fascist agenda within the American society?
ReplyDeleteVery horrifing to imagine a group being able to get away with what they were able to back than. Also, you brought up a point I hadn't thought of before that they targeted other groups besides blacks. Were they ever cracked down on by the federal government for their actions and if so when and what act/case?
ReplyDeleteTo me its interesting to see how the new KKK included its hate and discrimination to include a wider range than just African Americans. Why did the KKK expand its ideals to discriminate against more people?
ReplyDeleteWhat I found so shocking in this article is that the KKK also targeted Catholics. I assumed that most Catholics would be perceived as whites and therefore wouldn't be targeted in general.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. It is tragic that such groups were able to exist and still exist in today's society. Do you think that the influx of immigrants was one of the causes of the revival of the KKK? I would argue that since workers received lower wages because of the new migrant laborers, tensions had increased. But they most likely didn't impact the south as much. What do you think?
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