Murders, acts of violence, arson, rape, shootings, and "severe and inhumaine beatings" all caused because of the belief of white supremecy all started in 1866. A social club called the Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1866 by six young Confederate war veterans in Tennessee. This soical club for white supremicists was distinguished by elaborate rituals, hooded costumes and secret passwords. The Klan name came from the Greek word kuklos, meaning circle, and the English word clan. The Ku Klux Klan were very influencial in the Union and still continue to be influencial in the United States of America.
The Ku Klux Klan was formed as a social club in 1866 by six young Confederate veterans. The first club den was established in Tennessee, new dens spread rapidly all over the southern states. By the election of 1868, when black suffrage had started, the Klan had become a terrorist movement driected against potential black voters.
English: William Joseph Simmons, founder of the se...
Ku Klux Klan members and a burning cross, Denver, ...
Cartoon from 1868 ("'Tis but a change of banners -...The Klan was formed to suppress black voting, reestablish white supremacy, and to topple the Reconstruction governments. The Klan was formed for a number of reasons; at first it was just meant to be a social club for white supremicists then it escalated and the Klan existed because many southern white males felt that their vote no longer meant anything because the black voters out numbered them. Many ex-members of the Confederate amry joined the Klan because they were angered that so many southerners died for what now seems to be nothing. The most central reason of the majority of Klansmen was just a pure hatred for the black race within the United States. Vigilantism and hatred of minorities united many southern whites of differnt social classes.
The Ku Klux Klan started spreading to many of the southern states right after the civil war...