The Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan's long history of violence grew out of the anger and hatred many white Southerners felt after the Civil War. Blacks, having won the struggle for freedom from slavery, were now faced with a new struggle against widespread racism and the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite what many might like to think, the KKK is still active today.

The bare facts about the birth of the Ku Klux Klan and its revival half a century later are baffling to most people today. Little more than a year after it was founded, the secret society moved across the South, bringing a reign of violence that lasted three or four years. Then, as rapidly as it had spread, the Klan faded away. After World War I a new version of the Klan surfaced. Then, having grown to be a major force for the second time, the Klan again receded into the background. This time it never quite disappeared, but it never again gathered such widespread support.

A more obvious explanation of the South's acceptance of the KKK is found in slavery. Freedom for slaves represented for many white Southerners a sour defeat. It is speculated that it was a defeat not only of their armies, but of their economic and social way of life. It was an incredible widespread culture-shock for the South when the slaves were freed. Every way of life was affected for them.

The beginning idea for the KKK came from a number of slave revolts in Virginia and other parts of the South that led to night patrols. These night patrols were white men out on the roads for the specific purpose of enforcing the curfew for slaves, looking for runaways, and guarding rural areas against black uprisings. They were given permission by law to give a specific number of lashes to anyone who broke these rules. The idea of these legal night riders and their whips was still in the minds of the defeated Southerners and freed blacks when the first Klansmen took to those same roads in 1866.

The origin of the Ku Klux Klan was a secret for years, although there were many thoughts and theories to explain its beginnings. One idea was that the Ku Klux Klan was originally a secret order of Chinese drug smugglers. Another claimed it was begun by Confederate prisoners during the war. The most ridiculous theory was about an ancient Jewish document referring to the Hebrews enslaved by Egyptian pharaohs. In fact, the beginning of the KKK wasn’t as complex as many made it seem. It was just six young Confederate veterans in a small town with nothing better to do than to gather around a fireplace one December evening in 1865 and form a social club. The place was Pulaski, Tennessee, near Alabama’s northern border. When they got together a week later, the six young men were full of ideas for their new club. It would be secret, to make it more amusing, and the titles for the officers were to have names as crazy-sounding as possible, partly for the fun of it and partly to avoid any military or political involvement. The head of the group was called the Grand Cyclops. His assistant was the Grand Magi, there was a Grand Turk to greet all candidates, a Grand Scribe to act as secretary, Night Hawks for messengers and a Lictor to be the guard. The members, when the six young men found people to join, would be called Ghouls. The founders were determined to come up with something mysterious. The Greek word, "kuklos" was suggested, where the English words "circle and "cycle" come from. Another member, suggested the word "clam." After thinking for a while, everyone agreed on the "Ku Klux Klan."

Not long after the founders named the Klan, they decided to show off. They disguised themselves in white sheets and galloped their horses through the streets of little Pulaski. Their ride created such a stir that the men decided to adopt the sheets as the official dress of the Ku Klux Klan. Later, they added to it pointed hats and some masks. If that was all there was to the KKK, it probably wouldn’t have lasted long. But at some point in early 1866 the group began to have an effect on local blacks. The night rides were soon the whole idea to the group. White-sheeted ghouls visited black homes late at night, telling the terrified people that lived there to behave, and to expect more visits if they didn't. It didn't take long for the threats to turn into violence against blacks who stood up for themselves. Before the founders realized what had happened, the Klan had grown into something it was not intended to be.

By 1868, stories about Klan activities were appearing in newspapers all over the country, and newly placed governors realized they faced an insurrection by a terrorist organization. Orders went out from state capitols and Union army headquarters to stop the Klan, but it was too late. From Tennessee, the Klan quickly spread into nearby counties and then in North and South Carolina. When Tennessee Governor William G. Brownlow attempted to plant spies within the Klan, he found the organization knew as much about his efforts as he did. One Brownlow spy who tried to join the Klan was found strung up in a tree. Later another spy was stripped and mutilated, and a third was stuffed in a barrel in Nashville and rolled into the Cumberland River where he drowned. The ugly side of the Ku Klux Klan, the mutilations and floggings, lynching and shootings, began to spread across the South in 1868, and concerns that may have been expressed at the Nashville meeting were ignored.

It is widely believed that Forrest ordered the Klan to break apart in January 1869, but the surviving document isn’t straightforward, as some historians think Forrest's "order" was just a trick so he could deny responsibility or knowledge of Klan’s actions. Whatever the actual date, it is clear that as an organized body across the South, the KKK ceased to exist by the end of 1869. That did not end the violence, however, and as the Klan’s horrific actions became more widespread, legislatures throughout the region passed harsher laws, and hunted Klan leaders. In 1871, Congress held hearings on the Klan and passed a tough anti-Klan law. Under the new federal law, night riding and the wearing of masks were prohibited. Hundreds of Klansmen were arrested but few actually went to prison. By the mid-1870’s, white power was back in government, and the Klan simply wasn’t needed so much anymore. The Klan action died out.

The Ku Klux Klan was brought back to life in the twentieth century, and the onset was from massive immigration, bringing 23 million people from the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Hungary. Many felt the nation was being swamped by aliens. The other major event which led to the Klan's return was World War I. The American people didn’t like the idea of