The original Klan - Six college students founded the Ku Klux Klan between December 1865 and the summer of 1866 in the town of Pulaski

Ku Klux Klan , designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used the name. The first Ku Klux Klan was an organization that thrived in the South during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. The second was a nationwide organization that flourished after World War I.

The original Klan - Six college students founded the Ku Klux Klan between December 1865 and the summer of 1866 in the town of Pulaski, Tennessee. Former Confederate officers, the six young men organized as a social club or fraternity and spent their time in horseplay of various types, including wearing disguises and galloping about town after dark. They were surprised to learn that their nightly appearances were causing fear, particularly among former slaves in the area. They quickly took advantage of this effect and the group began a rapid expansion. Various factions formed in different towns, which led to a meeting in April 1867 to codify rules and organizational structure.

At this meeting, former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was elected Grand Wizard, or supreme leader, of all the Klan. The organization was divided into a number of realms, dominions, provinces and dens, which were in turn led by Grand Dragons, Titans, Giants and Cyclopes.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

The policies of Reconstruction (aiming to extend the rights of Southern blacks) had the unintended effect of pushing hundreds of resentful and anxious veterans into the Klan, which soon began instituting a systematic policy of violence in opposition to the new social order. Former slaves were the obvious target of this terrorism, but the Klan also harassed, intimidated and even killed Northern teachers, judges, politicians and "carpetbaggers" of all ilk. By late 1867, the movement had spread throughout the small towns of the South, though it did not take hold in urban areas, perhaps because at that time the cities were not suffering the economic hardships of rural regions. Klansmen began waging guerilla warfare against what they perceived as a corrupt system depriving them of rights. This feeling of grievance, which began during the time of the first Klan, would characterize Klan sensibility and ideology throughout the 20th century.

By 1869, internal strife led Klansmen to fight against Klansmen as competing factions struggled for control. The Klan's increasing reputation for violence led the more prominent citizens to drop out and criminals and the dispossessed began to fill the ranks. Local chapters proved difficult, if not impossible, to monitor and direct. In disgust, Forrest officially disbanded the organization and the vast majority of local groups followed his lead. Some number of local units contin-ued to operate but were eventually disbanded or sent into hiding by federal troops.

In 1915, William J. Simmons, a lifelong joiner of clubs, was inspired ...

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In 1915, William J. Simmons, a lifelong joiner of clubs, was inspired to reorganize the Ku Klux Klan after seeing the movie "Birth Of A Nation," D.W. Griffith's spectacular account of Reconstruction, told from the perspective of the Klan and adopting the group's mythic vision of a noble and pristine antebellum South (the movie's loathing of blacks is extraordinary to a modern eye and was highly controversial even at the time; President Woodrow Wilson captured the sensation of the film's release -- even as he validated its message -- when he famously declared that the movie was "like writing history with lightning."). Dissatisfied with the many fraternal organizations of which he was a member (or by his lack of control over those groups), Simmons sought to establish his own organization dedicated to "comprehensive Americanism." When "Birth Of A Nation" opened in Atlanta, he ran an advertisement for the Klan next to the movie's ad in the Atlanta newspaper.

The timing was perfect. The United States was struggling to meet the challenges imposed by a massive influx of immigrants, many of whom were Catholic or Jewish and few of whom spoke English. Appealing to the middle class and claiming to be a "purely benevolent" club, the Klan drew members immediately. When the United States finally entered World War I, the group capitalized on the conflict by promising to defend the home front against "alien enemies, slackers, idlers, strike leaders and immoral women," as well as African Americans, Catholics and Jews.

The KKK are white supremacists. They believe that races should not mix and races should be equal although they seem to give the idea that whites are superior to blacks. They believe in keeping races pure and so not marrying or having kids with non-white people as they want to keep their blood and genes pure. They use violence to show people that anyone of a different religion eg. Catholics or Jews or race that they are superior and should be the only race. In the end, they intend to make themselves the only race. The Ku Klux Klan believes that every American White Protestant female should only be allowed to marry an American White Protestant male and that there should no mixed ethnic minorities and no mixed religions in the family. They also say blacks are more likely to commit crime and they also say that Hispanic crime is high. The KKK claims that they are not racist, but rather they are "racialist." This means that they do not necessarily hate any one particular race based on skin color, but they love the White race and have "White pride." Most of their ideas are centered on this concept. Therefore, the first and foremost thing that the KKK stands for is the White Race. The KKK believes that the only way to achieve their goals is to have a United States with all White people living in it, and there should be absolutely no integration.

the KKK used many different horrifying methods:

A wave of repression punctuated by lynchings, shootings and whippings swept over the nation in the early and mid-1920's and many communities were firmly in the grasp of the Klan's terror. The victims were usually blacks, Jews, Catholics, Mexicans and various immigrants, but sometimes they were white, Protestant, and female. Klansmen attacked people they considered "immoral" or "traitors" to the
white race.
In Alabama, for example, a divorcee with two children was flogged for the crime of remarrying, and then given a jar of Vaseline for her wounds. In Georgia a woman was given 60 lashes for a vague charge of "immorality and failure to go to church." And when her 15-year-old son ran to her rescue, he received the same treatment. In both cases the leaders of the Klansmen responsible turned out to be ministers.
But such instances were not confined to the South--in Oklahoma Klansmen applied the lash to girls caught riding in automobiles with young men, and the Klan in the San Joaquin Valley in California were know to flog and torture women.
In a period when many women were fighting for the vote, for a place in the job market, and for personal and cultural freedom, the Klan claimed to stand for "pure womanhood" and frequently attacked women who sought
independence.
June 6, 1997 - ATMORE, Alabama (CNN) -- A former Ku Klux Klansman convicted of killing a black teen-ager was put to death in Alabama's electric chair Friday in the state's first execution for a white-on-black crime in 84 years. Henry Francis Hays, 42, was convicted of the 1981 lynching-style murder of Michael Donald, who was abducted at random from a Mobile street, beaten, slashed and strangled, and his body hanged from a tree.
The KKK have ceremonies where they stand in a circle round a burning cross. It is often in black peoples yards. They claim it represents the fiery light of Christ but people have become very terrorized from it in the past.

The KKK may carry on for a long time as the parents in the KKK bring up their kids in the KKK. They teach them its right what they do and bring them up in the life of a klan member. They wear the costumes and the masks and join in with the ceremonies from an early age.

They have strange disguises, silent parades, midnight rides, mysterious language and commands, and are found to be most effective in playing upon fears and superstitions. The riders muffle their horses' feet and cover the horses with white robes. They themselves, dress in flowing white sheets, their faces covered with white masks, and with skulls at their saddle horns, posing as spirits of the Confederate dead returned from the battlefields.

Membership Requirements for the Men

Not allowed in the ranks if not able to declare an unqualified allegiance to the constitution.

Not allowed in this movement who cannot pledge themselves to the protection, preservation, and advancement of White race.

No one is allowed if you are not able to practice Brotherhood.

Only Pure white Christians allowed. 18 years of age, and who can dedicate their lives to the KKK.

The KKK is a strict law abiding orginization. You will be SWORN to uphold law

The KKK concedes the right of every Christian citizen the right to worship God as he sees fit.

Memebership Requirements for the WOMEN

Open to white gentile females.

Native born citizens.

Over 18 years of age.

Not Catholic, socialist, communist, or so forth.

To be endorsed by at least two Klansmen or WKKK kleagle or imperial commander.

Owned no allegiance to any foreign gov't or sect.

Six month Klan jurisdiction requirement.

Ku KLux Klan Facts

1. The KKK supports the idea of the extinction of blacks, Catholics, and Jews.

2. The Klan believes the only way races can develop their full potential and culture is through racial seperation.

3. The 29th president of the U.S., Warren G. Harding, became a Klan member and was sworn into membership in the White House.

4. In the 1930's, membership in the KKK rose 50% making total enrollment 2 million.

5. In 1944 the KKK went bankrrupt owing 700,000 dollars in taxes to the government.

6. The origianl flag that represents the Klan is still on display in the Tennessee state house in Nashville.

7. Inb 1871 the KKK act came into effect , which otlawed conspiracy to violate civil rights.

9. In the Klans perspective, the burning of the cross was sanctified and made holy 19 centuries ago by the suffering and the blood of Christ.

10. The Klan feels that Democratic and Republican parties promote treasonous policies

11. The strongest KKK force is the Pacific Northwest to date

The KKK haven’t been successful so far in the extinction of everyone but themselves but they have put a lot towards making todays world a racist place. They have mentally disturbed peoples lives and terrorized villages by burning down their churches.

Although the modern Ku Klux Klan, or KKK, is not the same group that terrorized African - Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they still have the same basic goals and ideas. There are many local and regional KKK groups such as the Oregon Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the New Order Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is the national and largest organization, but the only one seeking a political agenda. They are the group that claims they are keeping alive the spirit and ideas of the original Klansmen but there are only a few thousand left as we think but it’s a very secret society.

By Laura Stark