Piloted by the thoughts of a world with only one superior race, the KKK often uses violence and moves over the law to promote their cause. They have been in the darkness for over one hundred and thirty years and continue to increase in America's society today.
The Klan began during the reform period after the civil war in the Southern United States. The southern people had suffered greatly from the effects of the war. Many of them lost their homes and plantations. The people needed a release from the sorrow of everyday life.
In 1865, six men from a small town in Tennessee began what has grown to be the largest and most feared "hate group" in the country. The men decided to make a club to help release the stress of the times. The men were all poor and could not afford to make gowns or costumes for the group, so they decided to use linens.
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 -...They wore the linens and put pillowcases on their heads. They also draped the linen over the horses they rode. In the beginning, the men wanted to do nothing more than play pranks on people. The Klan members soon realized what they could do with the fear tactics they placed on the towns-people.
Word spread across the South about these masked men. Many people loved the idea and wanted to be involved; the Klan quickly grew. A leader was soon needed to control the large group. Their first choice was Southern General Robert E. Lee; he became very ill and could not continue the position. Their next choice was a man named Nathan Bedford Forrest. (www.KuKluxKlan.org/history2.html)
Forrest, although he was not as well known as General Lee, was seen as a good leader. He was born in Mississippi and...
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