The Klu Klux Klan.

Essay by JoanndithHigh School, 11th gradeA-, May 2003

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The Klu Klux Klan is the most influential white supremacists group in the US and has existed for almost 150 years. Abbreviated to KKK, the Klu Klux Klan was established right after the end of the Civil War. By April 1867 it had already spread down to Nashville. Most of the leaders were leaders of the Confederate Army. The KKK's purpose was to keep segregation legal and to keep whites from mixing with black people. They claimed that they wanted to restore "White America." Their targets were not only black people but also, immigrants, Jews, Catholics and even whites who supported the black movement. Although many people mistakenly think that their sole purpose was to eliminate all other races that were not white, they also wanted to keep the races separated. Their crimes were mostly against the white sympathizers and interracial couples (Domìnguez.) Throughout the years they have remained predominantly in the southern parts of the United States.

There, they were known as the "Invisible Empire of the South."

The Klu Klux Klan was first originated in Pulaski, Tennessee, in May 1866 by 6 Confederate officers. The first Grand Wizard of the KKK was Nathan Forest. He was a well-known general during the Civil War and a freemason. When the actions of the group began to get too violent, he ordered them to disband in 1869. These actions included random beatings, lynching and sabotage. Between 1868 and 1870 the Ku Klux Klan played an important role in restoring white rule in North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia

(Simkins.)

Just after the film, "The rebirth of a Nation" where Klansmen were romantically portrayed as heroes who had preserved the moral fiber and character of America...this time another Mason, W.J. Simmons, was the architect. By the mid-1920s they controlled some states such...