The history of the KKK--First and Second Movements

The post- Civil War time period, or Reconstruction as it is commonly known, was the beginning of a new era in Southern history. The Radical Republican Congress placed the South under military rule; non-Southerners known as scallywags and carpetbaggers gained access to state house positions. In 1868, t

Because of the distinction between the various eras in the life of the KKK, one must therefore pose the question: what conditions in society and the social/political climates made it possible for and organization such as the Ku Klux Klan to be formed and to remain relatively successful for a period of time? The answer to this question, during the first era of the Klan lies in the poor and corrupted state in which the South was left after the Civil War. With a government now characterized by corruption and aimed at paying the South back for its concession from the Union and the subsequent war as a result, the South became a society turned completely around. Due to this confusion and the freeing of slaves, who made up more than half of the population in the South, feelings of fear arose. This fear led to a backlash against blacks and the ensuing formation of white supremacy groups. This fear was able to build in more rural towns by preying on the monotony that comes along with small town life. This can help to explain the success of the second era of the Klan during the 1920s. During the post World War I years, people residing in rural towns were the vital catalysts behind the revival of the Klan movement. Those living in less urban areas found it easy to succumb to the ideals of power and domination of others promised to them by the KKK. This was a sense of control that would normally not be offered to those who became members. Though Klan membership was typically looked down upon in more urban and upper-classed settings, the occasional more well to do individual joined with the prospect of gaining a high leadership role, which usually happened. Klan activity also broke up the tediousness of rural life.

The new Klan had goals outside of strictly intimidating blacks. Its goals were slightly more political in nature. This version of the Klan not only sought to keep blacks out of positions of political power, but to get those among its own rankings into positions of influence in order to enforce their less popular methods of thinking. They proposed to “purify” the education system by allowing public schooling for only Protestant, white Americans. Klansmen also discouraged the patronizing of the businesses of non-Klan members in an effort to keep Klan money within the scope of the organization.

The issue of labor force in the agricultural South created another topic of dispute for the KKK. The Klan was an advocate of the post-Civil War South in which the aristocratic, white planter class ruled over the black slave class. In an effort to maintain some semblance of this society, efforts were made by the Ku Klux Klan to keep blacks “in their places” within Southern society. White supremacy over those who had been formerly used as a labor force was r

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