Hello, ceplair-ga!
In answer to your final clarification:
"Discuss the negative impact of the KKK on tne U.S...Between 1865
and the election of 1868!"
I have comprised the following essay. I hope you will take the
information and put it in your "own voice" and change the paragraphs
to suit your liking. You said nothing about the length of the paper,
and I knew you needed some information quickly, so here you go!
*********************************************
The original Ku Klux Klan was organized in Pulaski, Tennessee in May,
1866. The organizations evolved in response to the desire to maintain
"white supremacy" after the Civil War along with their opposition to
the policy of Reconstruction. Ex-Confederates, who were wary of the
weak local government in the South and the possible violent revolt of
the black population, especially after the Freedmen's Bureau was
established in 1865, formed a number of informal vigilante groups to
keep the order in southern communities. (1)
The Ku Klux Klan was the most infamous of these watchdog groups,
which were also comprised of the Men of Justice, the Pale Faces, The
Constitutional Union Guards, the White Brotherhood and the Pale Faces.
The costumed Klansmen were especially hateful not only toward the
black southerners but the "Carpetbaggers" and new immigrants as well.
(1)
The Carpetbaggers were seen as a different kind of threat to the
south. Many of them headed south after the war to take advantage of
speculative opportunities and were noted for their bent toward corrupt
business practices. The fact that the Blacks and the Carpetbaggers
supported Republican politicians posed a significant threat to groups
like the Ku Klux Klan. (2)
In 1867, a local Ku Klux Klan organization formalized in Nashville,
Tennessee. The Grand Wizard of the group was none other than
well-recognized Confederate calvary leader General N.B. Forrest. This
organizational strata of the insidious group was comprised of hideous
names. State leaders were called Grand Dragons, staff were called
Hydras, county groups were headed by Grand Titans, individual counties
were ruled by Grand Giants, and local dens were head by a Grand
Cyclops. Ghouls were the name given to individual Klan members. (1)
General Forest resigned as Grand Wizard in 1869 after recognizing the
chaotic workings of the group and unconscionable measures undertaken
by some of the Klan members. Despite his order to disband, many of the
local Klan organizations continued to exist throughout the South. (1)
The Ku Klux Klan exerted a negative impact on the country after the
Civil War, due to their insistence that ex-Confederates maintain
control in the South. They quickly gained political control in some
states by effectively keeping blacks from voting. As the Republican
Governments began to "reconstruct" the South, however, schooling and
voting was extended to southern blacks. For the first time, blacks had
a voice in southern politics, posing a very real threat to maintaining
the viability of influence previously held by ex-Confederates. This
threat prompted the Ku Klux Klan to become even more violent in order
to maintain control. (3)
The fact that the Radical Republicans were insistent that the "white
power structure in the South should be removed" and that "Southern
plantations should be taken from their owners and divided among the
former slaves," intensified the actions of the Ku Klux Klan. In fact,
the Klan was instrumental in restoring some semblance of white control
in the southern states by effectively frightening blacks from voting
in the elections. (4)
After the election of Ulysses S. Grant in 1868, the Radical
Republicans convinced the President to confront the Ku Klux Klan. An
1870 investigation into Klan activities led the Grand Jury to depict
the Klan in some memorable words. (4)
"There has existed since 1868, in many counties of the state, an
organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, or Invisible Empire of the
South, which embraces in its membership a large proportion of the
white population of every profession and class. The Klan has a
constitution and bylaws, which provides, among other things, that each
member shall furnish himself with a pistol, a Ku Klux gown and a
signal instrument. The operations of the Klan are executed in the
night and are invariably directed against members of the Republican
Party. The Klan is inflicting summary vengeance on the colored
citizens of these citizens by breaking into their houses at the dead
of night, dragging them from their beds, torturing them in the most
inhuman manner, and in many instances murdering." (4)
Further reaction to Klan influence prompted the enactment of" force
bills," or enforcement acts. "The radical Republicans controlling
Congress strengthened their Reconstruction program for the South by
imposing severe penalties on those Southerners who tried to obstruct
it. The act of May 31, 1870, designed to enforce the Fifteenth
Amendment, provided heavy penalties of fine and imprisonment for
anyone preventing qualified citizens (in this case African-Americans)
from voting." (5)
Finally, in 1871, the Klan was effectively undermined with the
passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act. The Act allowed the president the
power to "intervene in troubled states with the authority to suspend
the writ of habeas corpus in countries where disturbances occurred."
(4)
Works Cited
1. "The First Ku Klux Klan. Encyclopedia. Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0859144.html
2. "Carpetbaggers." Encyclopedia. Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0810564.html
3. "The Radical Republican Governments in the South." Encyclopedia.
Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0860649.html
4. "Radical Republicans." Spartacus US History.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASradical.htm
5. "Force Bill." Encyclopedia. Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0819140.html
===================================================
I hope this suffices on such short notice. I had been researching
your original question, and then noticed the final clarification late
this evening. If you have any further questions, please ask me
*before* rating this answer!
umiat-ga
Google Search Strategy
+ KKK AND election of 1868
negative impact KKK 1800's |
