Klu Klux Klan When was the Ku Klux Klan founded? The Ku Klux Klan was started after the civil war. The first branch was started in Pulaski Tennessee in May 1866. About a year later groups of local Klan’s were established in Nashville, in April 1867. Most leaders were former members of the confederate army. With one of there main leaders Nathan Forrest leading them the Klan tortured and killed black people and sympathetic white people. Wearing masks, white cardboard hats draped in white sheets. By the years 1860& 1870 the Klan played a big role in restoring white rule in states like North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Who did they target and why? The Ku Klux Klan targeted black people. Because they believed that they were impure and did not deserve to be free. Originally the point of the Ku Klux Klan was to stop black people from voting. But as the new government undermined them they began to take things into there own hands becoming violent. They also began to target white people who were sympathetic toward black people. At first, the Ku Klux Klan focused its anger and violence on African-Americans, on white Americans who stood up for them, and against the federal government which supported their rights.
The Klan, which typically emerged in times of rapid social change, added more categories to its enemies list, including Jews, Catholics (less so after the 1970s), homosexuals, and different groups of immigrants Basing there reasons on numerous things. Is the Klan still around today? After a period of relative quiet, Ku Klux Klan activity has spiked noticeably upwards in 2006, as Klan groups have attempted to exploit fears in America over gay marriage, perceived assaults on Christianity, crime and especially immigration.
The Ku Klux Klan was overshadowed in the late 1990s and early 2000s by growing Nazi activity; however by 2005 Nazi groups had fallen on hard times, with many groups collapsing has helped create a rise of racist skinhead activity, but has also provided new opportunities for Klan groups. What do the colors of the robes represent? A lot of people might believe that the colors of the robes represent some type of ranking, but the truth of the matter is that the colors represent the different groups of the Klan.
In most cases the colors are appointed by a grand wizard who is a leader in the Klan. Some recent attacks: Beginning in the 1950s, numerous individual Klan groups began to resist the Civil Rights Movement. Their actions included bombing of houses in transitional neighborhoods and bombing of houses of activists, as well as physical violence, intimidation and assassination. In Birmingham, Alabama, during the tenure of Bull Connor, Klan groups were closely allied with police and operated with impunity for years.
In states such as Alabama and Mississippi, their alliances reached into the governors’ administrations. The 1957 murder of Willie Edwards, Jr. Klansmen forced Edwards to jump to his death from a bridge into the Alabama River. The 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four black girls. Four Klansmen were named as suspects; they were not prosecuted until years later. The Klan members were Robert Chambliss, convicted in 1977, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry, convicted of murder in 2001 and 2002.
The fourth suspect, Herman Cash, died before he was indicted. The 1964 murders of three civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. In June 2005, Klan member Edgar Ray Killen was convicted of manslaughter in the murders. The 1964 murder of two black teenagers, Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore in Mississippi. In August 2007, James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was convicted of the murders, based on the confession of Klansman Charles Marcus Edwards.
Seale was sentenced to serve three life sentences. Seale was a former Mississippi policeman and sheriff’s deputy. Why is it important to research the Klan? It is important to research the Klan because for one thing I feel it’s always important to find out what other organization believe in and why they believe this especially if the organization opposes a threat to me and others around me. In this specific case I learned many useful things about the Klan and there beliefs. Some of which I am still confused by.
