In 1915, the Klan was re-formed in Georgia by William Simmons, a Southern school teacher. The KKK was re-formed in response to the massive influx of foreigners which worried some whites. The Klan’s new aim was to maintain white supremacy by targeting these new foreigners and other inferiors (This meant Catholics, Jews and foreigners were targets for violence as well as blacks). This meant that the Klan now appealed not just in the Deep South, but the Midwest, Southwest and Far West, who were worried about being dominated by the new immigrants. The new appeal of the Klan led to its membership rising rapidly, to between 2-5 million. It is hard to get a more accurate estimate, because most Klansmen kept their identities hidden so they couldn’t be put on trial for crimes that they committed. The majority of Klansmen lived in small communities of no more than 100,000, which meant they could dominate local politics and elect people they wanted into power. For example, in Oklahoma, the governor declared martial law and called his citizens into military service in an attempt to hunt down the KKK. In response, the Klan-controlled legislature got the governor impeached and removed from office. This example shows the extent of the Klan’s power, but while the Klan was good at getting into power, it had no clear political aims on what to do, so the Klan was more like a society which expressed resentment rather than a proper political party.
The Klan was changing in the way it targeted people. While it is seen as an anti-black society today, was more focused against Catholics, political enemies and “morally corrupt” people (criminals such as bootleggers, thieves and corrupt politicians). The Klan is characterized as a violent organization and while some Klansmen did participate in floggings, mutilations and even murders, most of its members never got involved with the violence, so it was viewed as a organization for white Protestants worried about the influx of foreigners that sometimes got involved in benevolent activities. When it did resort to violence, the Klan was more likely to target people who had bad morals rather than ethnic minorities. However, there is no mistake that the Klan was hostile towards Catholics, Jews and blacks. The WASPs thought they were victims of a foreign invasion, while they didn’t realise the hardships their targets faced in life. The opponents of the KKK fought back using violence as well, mostly in the north, where as well as resistance from Jews, Catholics and others, they angered the criminal world. Like in Chicago, where a Klan leader boasted his order would soon drive out all the criminals. Soon after, the body of a Protestant clergyman, who supported the Klan, was found dead in Cicero, headquarters of the notorious Al Capone.
Support of the Klan declined in the 1920s when the new anti-immigration laws were passed. The laws made people feel more secure as fewer immigrants were allowed to enter the country, but most importantly, it made people see the government was doing something. So people who had been worried about immigration and had joined the Klan to do something about it had no reason to stay so left the Klan. This reduced the Klan’s membership and their political power so this started their downfall.
The Klan was soon experiencing other problems. In Indiana, where the Klan had been re-formed, was where the death of the Klan would start. The Grand Dragon of Indiana, David Stephenson, was a very powerful figure, with political links to the Republicans and especially to the Governor, Ed Jackson. David Stephenson was a corrupt man, who was a womaniser and got drunk and in fights a lot of the time. If he hadn’t been part of the Klan, he would have been targeted by them. Instead, he used the Klan to make him rich and give him lots of political power. He thought he was untouchable, until he overstretched himself when he assaulted a secretary and ordered his henchman to take her to a hotel and keep her there after she had taken poison. She died in a month after not receiving the medical care that could have saved her. In 1925, David Stephenson was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Ed Jackson, the governor and Stephenson’s crony, refused to pardon him, so Stephenson released information he had on various officials which got many of them sent to prison including a congressman. This case revealed the real KKK, not the group opposed to the morally corrupt, but its hypocrisy (Stephenson was publicly against vice but in private he was involved in it) and the corruption in the group. Many of the leaders got involved in the Klan to make a lot of money, and people who had preached about right and wrong were themselves corrupt. And Klansmen, who condemned things such as sexual freedom, were often tempted by the things they were against. All this led to the Klan’s declining support from outside, and after the Stephenson case, the Klan has never recovered its former glory.
So to conclude, the KKK was a group for WASPs who were worried about the new immigrants getting too much political power. They appealed to racists but also normal people worried about the influx of foreigners and the government’s failure to do anything about it. They gained a lot of support and political power due to this appeal, but also made a lot of enemies due to the racist views and violent measures the Klan had to resort to. While many of the members weren’t involved in these activities, they are the events which characterized the Klansmen’s feelings. However, after one of the Klan’s most prominent leaders, David Stephenson, was sentenced to life for murder, people began to see the ugly side of the Klan. The hypocrisy, corruption and violence of the Klan was highlighted by this case and made people realise the Klan was bad news. This led to declining support and the loss of power the Klan once had. It eventually faded out, except for the core group which remained true to the Klan’s ideals.
By Darryl Light
