Ku Klux Klan

Founding

The Klan was formed during the Reconstruction era in May 1866, during which time the Northern states attempted to resolve those political, economic, and social issues that arose in the process of reinstating the Southern states into the Union. In response, veteran Confederate soldiers banded together in Pulaski, Tennessee, with the goal of maintaining the racist ideology of the South, and over the course of the next year they traveled throughout the Southern United States spreading their philosophies and using violent tactics against Black Americans, sympathetic Whites, and Southern Republicans (members of the party that had recently freed the slaves). The attackers, considered White supremacists because they believed that the White race is dominant to all others, derived the name of the group from the Greek word kyklos, meaning “circle,” and the Scottish Gaelic term dann, meaning “family.” In 1867, a significant group of local Klans met in Nashville, Tennessee, in an effort to build a nationwide hierarchical organization that would designate members at county, state, and national positions. The first Grand Wizard, or national leader, of the group was Nathan Bedford Forrest, a highly decorated general during the Civil War and former slave owner. While some other leaders of the organization at the state or county levels acquired titles such as “Imperial Wizard,” or “Exalted Cyclops,” the Klan never reached a state of formal organizational structure that was able to unite and coordinate multigroup efforts.

Early Years

During the next 5 years, the Klan played an important role in restoring White Democratic control in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. At this time, the organization's goal was to lead the Confederate Democrats back into power and to restore White supremacy in the South through peaceful, political means. Although they advocated violence only in the attempt to disarm Black Union soldiers who were given firearms during the war, leaders of the Klan also alleged that many unaffiliated individuals, acting under their own volition, were using violent means to achieve the same goal, wearing commonplace masks, white cardboard hats, and white sheets to disguise themselves in order to escape recognition and thus penalty for their actions. Most of these violent acts included the lynching or assault of Blacks, whipping of White Unionists, or the burning of Black homes, churches, and schools.

The Klan slowly started its decline in 1870 after Forrest, realizing the increasingly violent, nonpo-litical agenda of the rest of the organization, called for its disbandment. In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Ku Klux Klan Act, introduced to enforce the civil rights provisions in the U.S. Constitution. This legislation allowed federal authorities to have jurisdiction over the Klan members, an area typically reserved for state militias; hundreds of members were charged and brought to trial. As its members were being fined and imprisoned, and the national leader stepped down, the Klan began to disappear from public view. Before they completely vanished, the Klan was held responsible for the Colfax massacre on April 13, 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana. More than 100 Black people were shot or beaten to death at the local courthouse for attempting to find safety after being targeted by local Whites following a contested election in which a Unionist supporter was elected into office.

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