The Ku Klux Klan is the name for three distinct movements in the United States that held extremely radical ideas regarding white supremacy and expressed these ideas through terrorism towards groups and individuals they opposed. It was first founded in 1866 as an organization of white men in the South who opposed Reconstruction-era policies whose aim was to establish greater equality and freedoms for blacks.
Despite legislation passed by Congress to lessen the terrorism of the Klan, it flourished in many regions of the South, especially because prosecution against members of the Klan was so difficult, due to the fact that officials either belonged to the Klan, declined to take action against it, or found it difficult to find suitable witnesses. As such, Republican state governments asked Congress for help, prompting the passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, one of three Enforcement Acts passed. The Act made certain crimes, such as conspiracies to deprive citizens of certain rights, into federal offenses, and it also allowed the president not only to use federal forces to suppress the Klan, but also to suspend habeas corpus, which meant that he could arrest individuals at his own discretion. Because of this increase in the power of the central government, President Grant was able to greatly reduce the amount of Klan activity in areas of the South like South Carolina.
In 1915, a revival of the Klan was organized near Atlanta, George, in part due to the postwar reaction of fear of a communist revolution like that of the Bolsheviks in Russia. According to our textbook, it was "antiforeign, anti-Catholic, antiblack, anti-Jewish, antipacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, antievolutionist, antibootlegger, antigambling, antiadultery, and anti-birth control." This absurd number of groups that the Klan opposed solidifies the idea that the Klan was a white supremacist group with a mentality that strongly favored WASP; that is, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. At its height during the 1920's, it reached around 5-million members and had incredible political influence. Its symbol was a burning cross, and it held rallies and marches all across the country.
Eventually, the Great Depression in the 1930's caused the decline of the Ku Klux Klan and membership dwindled steadily in number. This was also because of the recoil caused by the violence and terrorism of the Klan, in addition to outcry against embezzling by Klan officials. The organization temporarily disbanded in 1944, not to resurface again until the civil rights movement of the 1960's. The Ku Klux Klan was the epitome of racial intolerance and inequality that pervaded society during that time of great change.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan
http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.html
I think the sheer number of participation that the Klan had in the 1920's was staggering, but not altogether surprising. Movements like these tend to happen when widespread social change occurs in opposition to what white supremacists want, causing a wave of hate and destruction. For example, in the 2000's, a massive influx of immigrants, especially Hispanics, caused another movement of the KKK.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.html
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ReplyDeleteThis time in America was such a "perfect storm" for organizations like the KKK to be formed. Perhaps the strongest emotion amongst people was fear: fear of change and therefore fear of different ethnic and religious groups. Jannitta, I do agree with your point that the number of those involved in the KKK was not surprising. One important reason that may explain the sheer size of the KKK was its emphasis on the hive mentality. I would think that, in the South at this time, a good number of someone's peers would be involved in the KKK. That probably influenced a large number of more people to join. And this is a recurring pattern that we see all the time in history. A sentiment shared by some can become much broader and more popular as more and more join.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan
Given that the Klan is based in xenophobia, why would you say it has tendencies to resurge at certain times? What do you have to say about the changing motives of the Klan- from your explanation we understand that the Klan originally was created to deny blacks their civil liberties, but in the 1920s it seems that the KKK broadens its hate to include more people. I saw a video today framing the modern KKK as an organization that (in this particular instance) seeks to protect "white history".
ReplyDeletevideo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUnobHHAKxo