In 1867, a secret KKK convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee, to adopt a declaration o principles expressing loyalty to the United States Constitution. The convention designated the Klan as an Invisible Empire and provided for a supreme official, a Grand Wizard of the Empire. Other principal officials of the organization were the Grand Dragon of the Realm, who was assisted by eight Hydras; the Grand Titan of the Dominion, assisted by six Furies; and the Grand Cyclops of the Den, assisted by two Nighthawks.
In the time between 1868 and 1870, while federal occupation troops were being withdrawn from the southern states and radical regimes replaced with Democratic administrations, the KKK was increasingly dominated by rougher elements in the population. The local organizations, called klaverns, became so uncontrollable and violent that the Grand Wizard officially disbanded the Klan in 1869. However, the klaverns continued to operate on their own. In 1871, Congress passed the Force bill to implement the 14th amendment, which guaranteed the rights of all citizens. The same year President Grant issued a proclamation calling on members of illegal organizations to disarm and disband. Afterward, hundreds of Klansmen were arrested. The remaining klaverns gradually faded as the political and social subordination of blacks was reestablished.
A new fraternal group founded in Georgia in 1915 adopted the name, rituals, and some attitudes of the original KKK. The official name of this new society, which was organized by a former preacher, Colonel William Simmons, was the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Membership was open to native-born, white Protestant males, 16 years or older. Blacks, Jews, and Catholics were excluded and made targets of discrimination and persecution by the new Klan. Until 1920, the society made little influence. Then, in the period of economic struggle and political and social unrest that followed World War 1, the Klan expanded rapidly in urban areas and became active in many states.
By the mid 1970’s, the clan had gained some respectability. Acknowledged Klan leaders ran for public office in the South amassing sizable numbers in votes. Approximately 15 separate organizations existed including the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, and the National Klan. A resurgence of Klan violence occurred in the late seventies, and in 1980, a Klan office was opened in Toronto, Canada. The total membership was estimated at about 5000 at the end of 80’s. A former Grand Wizard of the Klan, David Duke was actually elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1989 and ran unsuccessfully for the states governor in 1991.
