Ku+Klux+Klan

Theo Anderson P.7-American Studies The Ku Klux Klan was America’s first terrorist group. It started after the civil war and has died and re-organized several times since 1866. The Klan’s initial purpose was to set up white supremacy. The Klan did so by attacking blacks, white who stood for blacks and federal government members which supported black rights. The Klan used Christianity as it’s back support and as a conventional means of recruiting ignorant or other deeply racist whites. The first thing leading to the beginning of the Klan was that after the civil war members of congress tried to destroy white power structures in the rebel states. The Freemen’s Bureau was created to protect former slaves. They helped by finding jobs for blacks and improve their health and school systems. When Congress tried to extend the power of the Freemen's Bureau, President Andrew Johnson vetoed the move. In April 1866, Johnson also vetoed the Civil Rights Bill that was designed to protect freed slaves from Southern Black Codes. The election of 1866 increased the number of Radical Republicans in Congress. The next year Congress passed the first Reconstruction Act. The South was now divided into five military districts, each controlled by a major general. President Johnson vetoed the bill but congress passed it the same day. The Klan did change the course of American history but at the same time it didn’t. The Klan did change the course by one being the first terrorist group and it also called for the government to step in and do something about blacks and people oppressing them and taking their rights from them by force ( other than slavery). The Klan didn’t really change the course much because people were racist then and the only thing the Klan was then was men in white who did inhumane acts against blacks. So in all reality it didn’t change the course of America except the fact that it did impact on America’s views on racism. The Klan did have an effect on today’s society and in some places have direct effects on today’s societies. The Klan is something that can be used as a reference to things dealing with organized racism. Also today there are many branches of the Klan and there is no single “Klan”. The affects today because racism still exists, people are members of the Klan, black people are still hated by those extreme racists and the hate continues. Black people may not find burning crosses on their lawn in the morning but they can see a hateful person walking by white or not. So in the end the Klan was established because people sought to take control through white supremacy and the government was doing too much for blacks as they supposed. The Klan didn’t really change the course of America’s history but it did affect the time period severely. And third the Klan exists and affects people lives today and I don’t think there will ever be a stop to that.

Biblio http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkkk.htm http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/kukluxklankkk/a/kukluxklan.htm