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Preface:
It is not very simple to write down the history of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), because there are many contradictory information about the Ku Klux Klan. A good example for this is the number of the members in the 1920\'s. In the Encyclopedia Americana is written down they have had 1.5 million members, on the contrary, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says they have had 4 million members. I think, the reason for these differences are that the Klan was an undercover organization and that they counted there members not very often.
There are three main periods: the first one from 1865 till 1871, the second one from 1915 till 1944 and the last one from 1946 till today. Between these periods the Klan was forbidden or had died out.
The Birth of the Ku Klux Klan (1866-1871):
BILD FOUNDERThe KKK was founded after the Civil War (1861-65) to keep the old order of the separation between the whites and the Afro-Americans. It was organized as a social club for Confederated veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. The first leader of the Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was also called the Grand Wizard. The name Ku Klux Klan comes from the Greek word kyklos (circle) and the English word clan (Ky klos clan _ Ku Klux Klan).The Klan members soon began to attack Afro-Americans, which wanted to be political active, for example to go to an election or only wishing to be registered in the town hall. They also beat them up, forced them to leave town or even murdered them and their sympathizer. To hide there identity the members wore white robes and hoods, they also put sheets over the horses. The KKK spread quickly through the south of the U.S.A. and got also known as the \"Invisible Empire of the South\". In 1867 the Ku Klux Klan got a secret army to oppose the Unionist/Republican state government.
The \'Force Bill\' was passed by Congress in 1871. This law was the beginning of the end of the 1st period, because it allowed President Grant to send federal troops to the main scope of action and he really did it. When this law was passed the Klan soon disappeared. In 1882 the Supreme Court declared the KKK also unconstitutional.
The 2nd Klan (1915-1944):
The new Klan was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1915 by William J. Simmons. He got his inspirations from Thomas Dixion\'s book \"The Clansman\" (1905) and the film \"The Birth of a Nation\" (1915) from D. W. Griffith. The Ku Klux Klan was a Protestant fraternal society, that is why they attacked not only blacks and immigrants, but also Jews and sometimes even Roman Catholics.
The number of members in the early 1920\'s varied in the different encyclopedias from 1.5 million to 4 million. But the Klan have definitively had the most members in this time. The organization drew members from all ranks of the white society, but mainly from the lower middle class people. The Klan got also more and more power in states like Indiana, Oklahoma, Oregon and in nearly the whole south. The Klan made the people fear of the immigrants, communists and other minorities and fed their frustration to get new members.
There was only a small part which was as violent as the Klan members in the 1st period. Most of the members were nonviolent, they only marched in parades, paid fee, vote for the political candidates of the Klan or perhaps took part in rallies where crosses were burned. The original Ku Klux Klan did not make cross burnings, this is one of the ideas of Dixon\'s book.
During the world economic crisis 1930\'s the membership dropped drastically and the last rests of the Klan were disbanded in 1944.
The 3rd Klan (1946-today):
Samuel Green revived the Klan in Atlanta in 1946 again. At the beginning the KKK lived from the fear of Communism. In 1949 S. Green died and the Klan got divided in many splinter groups like the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan or The New Order Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. During the civil-rights movement in the 1960\'s the different Klans got stronger again. In this time all Klans together have had about 17000 members, in 1979 there were only 10000 members. When the civil-rights movement started, some splinter groups began to get huge arsenals of guns and other military gear. They terrorized supporters of civil-rights movement all over the south of the USA. They had the highest murder rate at this time they ever have had. In the late 1970\'s and early 1980\'s they got new members again, because there were special programs to help the black citizens. Today the Klans sympathize Neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists.
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