The Ku Klux Klan And The Civil War - 1186 Words

Yes: Shawn Lay rejects the view of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a radical fringe group comprised of marginal men and instead characterizes the KKK of the 1920s as a mainstream, grassroots organization that promoted traditional values of law, order, and social morality that appealed to Americans across the nation. No: Thomas Pegram, on the other hand, recognizes that Klansmen were often average members of their communities, but this did not prevent most Americans from denouncing the organization’s commitment to White supremacy, xenophobia, religious intolerance, and violence as contradictory to the values of a pluralistic society. Throughout history there have been three Ku Klux Klan’s. The first one was the Reconstruction-era Klan, which†¦show more content†¦Out of the three Klan’s, the one that he believes was the most mainstream was the Klan of the 1920s. One point that Shawn Lay makes is that at the peak of the Klan’s popularity if had acquired over four million members across the United States which he believed to be to high of a number to not be considered mainstream. He explains that even during the time in our country where we had widespread illiteracy there were very few people that haven’t heard of the Klan. He also makes several points tha t Americans would agree that no other organization except for the Klan could present such dark forces, racism and religious bigotry in the United States. Another good point that Shawn Lay makes is that many people agreed with the Klan’s views during WWI and it had the possibility to be considered a major influence during this time period. In the late 1920s the Klan’s social and political influence started to decline. One reason for this decline was because of a Klan Leader in Indiana named David C. Stephenson who was put on trial for murder. One of the last points that Lay makes is that even after the time period that the Klan had spread across the United States and became very popularly, it is still considered a historical enigma. A man named Thomas Pegram disagrees with Shawn Lay a believes that the Ku Klux Klan was not a mainstream organization. He thinks to consider the Klan of the 1920s as mainstream is an overstatement. He statesShow MoreRelatedThe Ku Klux Klan And The Civil War1296 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee and expanded to almost every southern state by 1870. The Ku Klux Klan started off as a social group full of Confederate Veteran’s. The first two words of their group came from the Greek word â€Å"kyklos† which means circle. They selected their first leader in the summer of 1867 who was Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest! This group started after the Civil War during Reconstruction. Violence from the Ku Klux Klan started in 1867 afterRead MoreKu Klux Klan And The Civil War926 Words   |  4 PagesKu Klux Klan During the Reconstruction Era, Congress passed many laws to provide equal rights to people of color. But at the local level, specifically in the South, many Democrats took the law into their own hands. They supported the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hoping to restore the pre-Civil War social hierarchy. The texts in Going to the Source illustrate two groups of individuals who opposed the KKK. In testimonies given by white witnesses, Republicans from the North felt the KKK posed a political andRead MoreFollowing The Defeat Of The Confederacy In 1865, Nathan790 Words   |  4 Pagesheld in high regards in the south as a â€Å"War Hero†. It was reported that he had twenty-nine horse shot out from under him, killed or wounded thirty soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, and being wounded four separate times himself.1 The Ku Klux Klan was already in existence when they offered him a position of command in the fight against reconstruction and corruption that came with it. Forrest held the title o f â€Å"Grand Wizard†, but would eventually disbanded the Klan due to excessive violence that counteredRead MoreThe Ku Klux Klan During World War I1551 Words   |  7 Pagescontroversy, and new attitudes will always have opposition. The Ku Klux Klan, which had died out in the 1870s, rose again to combat the turmoil that the nation was experiencing during World War I. The group came out resilient and often deadly, and members had influence in the United States that had not been witnessed before. Therefore, the second Ku Klux Klan that emerged during World War I was much more powerful than its former manifestation. The Klan arose because of social changes such as the increasingRead MoreThe Role of the Ku Klux Klan in U.S. Society Essay1162 Words   |  5 PagesThe Role of the Ku Klux Klan in U.S. Society Originally, the Ku Klux Klan was founded immediately after the Civil war and lasted until the 1870’s, after which it collapsed. The Klan was then reformed in 1915 and is still conducting till the present day. The Activists had set up for many different reasons, the foremost ones being, to create a business or rather as a ‘social club’, invite members who were anti-Civil war and of course to restore white supremacy after theirRead MoreThe Historical Significance of the Ku Klux Klan Essays866 Words   |  4 PagesThe Historical Significance of the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan organization is very important in history but unfortunately it was a bad group of people who where racist. Also the end of the Civil war is a very significant part of history. As the struggle of blacks for freedom came to an end, a new form of struggle began to form. Political, social, and economic gains of blacks after the Civil war became really frightening!! The idea of whites loosing superiority over blacks feltRead MoreThe Fourteenth Amendment945 Words   |  4 Pagesratification altered the balance of state and federal power. It prevented states from denying basic civil rights and gave Congress power to implement its assurance of liberty and equality. Despite that each state was required to approve the Fourteenth Amendment which granted â€Å"equal protection† of the Constitution to former slaves, the Ku Klux Klan did not honor this protection. Not only didn’t the Klan disregard the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court also bec ame unsympathetic to the rights ofRead MoreReconstruction’s Failure to Bring Social and Economic Equality625 Words   |  3 Pagestime just after the Civil War. The Reconstruction failed to bring about social and economic equality to the former slaves due to the southern whites’ resentful and bitter outlook on the matter, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Jim Crow laws. After the Civil War, the southern whites were extremely resentful and bitter. In 1865 the southern states began issuing â€Å"black codes,† which were laws made subsequent to the Civil War that had the effect of limiting the civil rights and civil liberties of blacksRead MoreTaking a Look at the Ku Klux Klan892 Words   |  4 PagesThe Ku Klux Klan was known as the biggest hate group in American History, and they are responsible for thousands of innocent blacks’ deaths. The Ku Klux Klan made it very hard for the blacks, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and homosexuals to live a normal life. The Klan made them live in fear. The Ku Klux Klan was a racial hate group in the south that made sure blacks did not get any civil rights. Members in the Ku Klux Klan believed whites were superior to other races. The KKK hated the blacks becauseRead MoreThe Resurgence Of The Kkk944 Words   |  4 PagesThe Resurgence of the KKK Racism has been deep-rooted in American history. Racism that arose in the 1920s involved infamous race riots, lynching, the Sweet Case, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. However, out of all these other factors, the Ku Klux Klan has left a huge impact on American history. To begin, there were many ways to show racism but, race riots were most common. One of the most famous race riots happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On the thirty first of May till the first of June in 1921