The Ku Klux Klan During World War I

The kkk ( ku Klux Klan ) formed after the civil war because the KKK Did not want african americans to have civil rights.The kkk formed In 1866 In pulaski tennessee . That extended into almost every southern state in 1870 .They they organized their group after the

The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, was thriving in its second generation during the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan was reborn by William J. Simmons, with the intentions of creating a world with only one race. Simmons’ inspiration came from the film, “Birth of a Nation”. The Ku Klux Klan became more hateful and violent than ever, creating a sense of fear among not only African-Americans, but Jews, Catholics, and immigrants too.

The goal of this investigation is to delve into the question of: to what extent was the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s a reflection of societal change? In order to assess this question from multiple perspectives on the topic, research is needed to further look into the Klan’s motives both prior to their revival as well as after. Events in the 1870s, when the Klan ended, as well as events in the 1920s, when the klan was reborn, will be considered in this investigation in order to make connections between the KKK and why their revival in the 1920s reflected societal change. Among these events include the end of Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, increase of immigration to the United States, as well as the “red scare” of communism.

Through research and evidence, it is clear that the historical interpretations of the origins of Klan and its establishment as an organization and its origins have changed over time. Starting in 1906, historians argued that the Klan was a benevolent, social organization, working as law-enforcers to help maintain a distinct social order between Southern whites and newly freed slaves. Completely ignoring the violence produced by the Klan, historians depicted the Klan as a positive, well-rounded organization. The second historical interpretation shone a new light on the Klan, exposing it for its violent and racially motivated actions. Historians argued that the Klan’s establishment was as a political organization that made a negative and lasting impression on all of U.S. history. The third and final interpretation argues that the Klan was established as a result of a struggling planter class. Historical interpretations during this time period describe the main goal of the Klan as wanting to answer to the desires and goals of the planters’ class. Because of this, historians during this era never saw the Klan as being an obstacle for newly freed slaves nor did they see the Klan having a negative effect on society. In conclusion, it is evident that historical interpretations develop and

After the Reconstruction, the Democrats recovered control of the Confederate States, which caused the old Klan to die out in the 1870s. The new Klan recreated itself in 1915. The new Klan was responding to the fast-growing ethnic minorities in the United States. The Klan only wanted 100% Americanism, natives, white Protestants born in the United States. The Klan was against immorality, rejected bootleg liquor, and taught hate against African Americans, Roman Catholics, Jews, immigrants, Communist, atheists prostitutes, and adulterers. The new Klan saw these groups as a threat because they believed they would make a difference in the voting platform. The Klan was most influential in Atlanta because that was the base for their headquarters.

- The most notorious organization was the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was organized in Pulaski Tennessee, in 1866 to intimidate former slaves who voted and apprehended political offices during Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan history came all about with the situation in the South following the harsh Civil War. The Southern States were in distraught and the defeated white people were humiliated and felt like they had to get revenge and gain their power back. The goal of the original Ku Klux Klan was to fight against the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain "white supremacy. The Klan was led by merchants, planters, and Democratic politicians. They considered themselves as the most respectable citizens

The Ku Klux Klan was a secret terrorist organization that was created by six well educated Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee in the December of 1865. Their main objective was to restore white supremacy through acts of violence such as murder, against both Black and White Republicans. The KKK had eventually spread to every southern state, and Klansmen would often terrorize republicans regardless of their race. Members of the KKK believed that African Americans were inferior to Whites and did not believe that Blacks deserved equal rights. Although the rebel groups were outlawed and made illegal, many of them remained in existence and appeared after the reconstruction had ended. This proved the Reconstruction to be ineffective as many Southerners were still fighting against the government and opposed them. In addition, African Americans were still deprived of their rights by these

Another disaster that resurface during the 1920’s was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The KKK emerged when the United States was flooded with immigrants from all over the world. The Klan reformed in Georgia and spread across the country. “The new Klan, born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, in 1915, patterned itself on the secret rituals and anti-black hostility of its predecessor and, until 1920, it was limited to a few local chapters in Georgia and Alabama.” (p.611 ph.

In the KKK marches the “Klan believed in keeping out blacks and other races by destroying saloons, opposing unions, and driving Roman Catholic, Jews, and foreign-born people out of the country (“The Americans Reconstruction to the 21st Century” 415). By this time, the Ku Klux Klan had developed 4 million members, while they continued discriminating against anyone who was not white or originally an American (www.georgiaencyclopedia.org, “Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century”). They believed those not meeting the “perfect” white citizen standards were to not belong in society. The Klan performed many protest such as the march in Washington and other acts to encourage the stop of other races in America. The KKK was extremely racist and this caused for disagreements all across America. Other races, besides whites, were angry due to the accusations of the KKK and this caused tension throughout the United

This turn to violence was how the first Ku Klux Klan rose. The Klan was formed by six ex-Confederate Veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, this organization started off small but began absorbing most of the other anti-Reconstruction groups in the south, like the Men of Justice, the Pale Faces, the Constitutional Union Guards, the White Brotherhood, and the Order of the White Rose (Infoplease.com). The Ku Klux Klan was created in fear of an insurrection by the ex-slaves, now the freedmen. The most recognized founder of the Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest. Their white robes and masks are supposed to be a representation of ex-Confederate soldiers who died during the civil war. One of the Klan’s biggest goal was keeping the freedmen away from the voting polls to assure the success of ex-Confederates in gaining back their political control in many states. In 1871, President Grant took an aim at the Klan for their interference in black suffrage but by this time the support for Reconstruction was beginning to diminish because racism was still very much alive in both the north and the south. As time progressed the Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives. The democrats waged a campaign of violence to take control of Mississippi to which President Grant responded with a refusal of federal troop intervention which ended support of the Reconstruction era. In the election of 1876, Republican, Rutherford B. Haynes, reached a compromise with

Inspired by his viewing of The Birth Of A Nation, the second Ku Klux Klan was founded by William J. Simmons, a former Methodist preacher. The Klan emerged during the “nadir of American race relations” however the growth of the Klan developed in response to new anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic and prohibitionist agendas as a result of contemporary social beliefs. Members of the Ku Klux Klan promoted patriotism and the ideals of “One hundred percent Americanism”. They attacked modernist views, criticizing bootlegging, motion pictures and homosexual relationships, demanding stricter morality and a return to “pure” living.

The KKK made their beliefs clear, and imprinted the memories of them by committing acts of hatred on those whom they opposed. Even though the KKK had reemerged in the South in 1915, it wasn’t until after World War I came to a close that the organization gained a national resurgence (Getchell). This version of the Klan was known as “The Second Ku Klux Klan.” The resurgent Klan of the 1920s was a short-lived but potent phenomenon. The second KKK was a mass movement that invoked the memory of and built upon the first KKK, which was a terrorist organization founded by white supremacists in the U.S. South (“The Ku Klux Klan In Washington State, 1920s”) The majority of klan members confined their opposition tactics to parading and burning crosses,

A year into the Klan, leaders wanted to create a hierarchical organization. As a result, in 1867, Klan’s from all over the South gathered in Tennessee and gave former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest full control of the Klan (The History Channel, 2005). Later interviewed by a Charleston newspaper, Forrest boasted that the member count exceeded 40,000 men in Tennessee alone and over 550,000 in all the Southern states (The Charleston, 1868). Never achieving organization, local chapters continued to go about their business, settling things in a way they deemed fit, this, in turn, would be one of the reasons for the decline of the Klan.

The second Ku Klux Klan lasted between 1915 to 1944 but predominantly rose and fell during the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan was a white supremacist group with millions of members who brutally tortured and killed anyone who was not a white American. The Ku Klux Klan were known for their white robes, cone hats, and covered faces that disguised their identities. The second Ku Klux Klan’s most important part of it’s history was it’s dramatic rise and fall. The Ku Klux Klan rapidly gained popularity during the 1920s due to political encouragement and immigration, then fell due to political corruption.

paragraph I will focus on the first Klan. The first Klan was founded in the 1860's and flourished in Southern United States but died out in the early 1870's. It was founded by six former confederate soldiers. It was mildly successful in