Ku Klux Klan

When

Founded in 1866, still existing now

KKK victims (book)

While the vast majority of the Klan's victims were African-American, whites who tried to help African Americans—whether by educating them, renting land to them, or buying their crops—were also in danger.

Economic pressure

African Americans who owned their own land or who worked in occupations other than agriculture were subject to attacks and destruction of property. Economic necessity forced most former slaves—who had little money or training in other occupations—to work for whites as wage laborers or sharecroppers.

KKK what they did (book)

Between 1868 and 1871, the Klan and other secret groups killed thousands of men, women, and children, and burned schools, churches, and property.

KKK goal (book)

By 1868, the Klan existed in practically every Southern state. Its overarching goal was to restore white supremacy. Its method was to prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights. Another Klan objective was to turn the Republicans, who had established the Reconstruction governments, out of power.

Why was the government weak in its ability to confront the Klan?

Congress tried to make enforcement laws but they were ruled unconstitutional

Result

KKK killed thousands of people, often blacks, and were faced with little opposition until after CRM when the Feds started to intervene. Now KKK is much smaller, only a few thousand members nationwide.

Who involved

Thousands of white southerners and some northerners

Government involvement

Very little local government intervention, sometimes support from them in the South, yet in the North, KKK groups were shut down quickly. Fed gov't did not get involved until after Civil Rights act.

Mechanism of Protests

Violent actions, often murder, of blacks and white republican politicians by angered conservative Southerners.

Media Involvement

Went from getting very little national news from end of Civil War to beginning of CRM, yet after the invention of tv and the Civil Rights Movement, the national news began to show images of KKK

Why it happened/How it started

Originally started as Civil War veterans group, then turned into racial terror group as a protest of the abolishment of slavery and the rights of blacks.