Question:

In 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was founded as a social club for

Last updated: 8/10/2022

In 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was founded as a social club for

In 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was founded as a social club for Confederate veterans of the Civil War who felt disempowered once the Union regained control of the South. At first, the Klan was a rowdy bunch of young Southern men who dressed up in sheets and rode their horses through the dark countryside. Very quickly, however, they realized the power they had to inspire terror, especially among the many displaced freed slaves. The Klan began to take violent action to preserve white supremacy in the South despite the reforms instituted under Radical Reconstruction. They beat and lynched freed blacks, Northern carpetbaggers, and Northern sympathizers and supporters. Soon, news of the Klan's actions and goals spread, and within a year there were a number of Klan organizations in various counties and states in the South. The Klan had its first organizational meeting in April 1867, and Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest assumed leadership as the Klan's first Grand Wizard. Despite the early attempts at centralized organization, it continued to operate primarily as a collection of independent local groups bound together loosely by racist and anti-Northern ideologies. How did the result of the Civil War impact the culture of the South?. In support of former Confederate soldiers, white southerners elected Nathan Bedford Forrest to Congress because he promised to oppose the reforms instituted by Radical Reconstruction. Angered by northern interference in southern society, white southerners developed methods to intimidate and limit the rights of African Americans in an effort to maintain supremacy. Angered by northern interference in the South's Reconstruction effort, white southerners organized social groups to support the election carpetbaggers who held anti-Northern ideologies. In support of former Confederate soldiers, white southerners established an organization that used terror tactics to fight against nativist ideologies spread by former Union soldiers.