The Ku Klux Klan had a great impact on all areas of society. African American society, along with Jews, immigrants and Roman Catholics and any other group not complying with the KKK's white protestant views were discriminated against. All areas of society were not only affected by discrimination but they also witnessed the cruel and closed minded events of the decade.
The Klan has been around since the end of the Civil War, forming during Reconstruction. It had four major periods of activity: the mid-1860's to the early 1870's, the 1920's, the late 1940's to the early 1970's and the late 1970's to the early 1980's. The 1920's time period was probably one of the most influential. .
The public's interest in the KKK in the early 1900's was sparked by a 1915 movie, The Birth of a Nation created by D.W. Griffith. He based most of his information on a book written by Thomas Dixon, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan. After a man named William J. Simmons saw the motion picture, he began planning a revival of the Klan. His initial vision for the Klan was a fraternity or club. He wanted it to be "The World's Greatest Secret, Social, Patriotic, Fraternal, Beneficiary Order." Another one of his goals was to sell memberships, paraphernalia, and insurance in hopes of making a fortune.
Simmons's hopes for the Klan were not as grand as what it became. After WWI the people of the United States were looking for something to do. Without violence, the people were bored. They became extremely patriotic and wanted to place blame on someone for the causes of the war. For this they turned to the minorities in the country: black, Roman Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.
As many know, the community the Ku Klux Klan has had the greatest impact on was African Americans. For years, discrimination, violence, and segregation have been problems among this group. During the 1920's the KKK helped impose their views on a large number of .
