|
The Klu Klux Klan (KKK) developed after the Civil War in the period, known as Reconstruction (1863-1877). When Abraham Lincoln issued an Eman-cipation Proclamation ending slavery, thousands of African Americans were freed. They gained the right to vote, attend schools and own property for the first time. Many were elected to political office under Lincoln's Republican Party. The granting of these basic constitutional rights was known as the franchise. The KKK began as a whites-only social club for the Civil War veterans of Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866 in response to the gains made by freed blacks. Under the direction of former Con-federate general Nathan Bedford Forrest of Nashville, Tennessee, the KKK sought to reestablish white supremacy through intimidation and violence that included burning homes and organizing "lynch parties." By the summer of 1867, the KKK had become the "Invisible Empire of the South." KKK members wore hooded white sheets to instill fear but primarily to prevent recognition. Between 1868 and 1870, the Klan operated mainly in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. A second Klu Klux Klan organization developed in 1915 near Atlanta, Ga., organized by Colonel William J. Simmons, a preacher. This KKK group gained its members through publicity and fundraising campaigns and used the symbol of a burning cross. During the 1920s, there were more than four million members nationwide. In Michigan, where KKK membership numbered over 100,000, UNIA members were frequently lynched and their homes burned. Both the police and firemen belonged to these organizations as well. When Malcolm X was growing up, a smaller group, known initially as the Black Shirts and later the Black Legion, served as an offshoot of the Klan. Its members directed hate campaigns toward African Americans, Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreigners. During the Great Depression (1929-1939) membership in the KKK dropped. During the 1960s, the KKK was revitalized and a new wave of violence was directed against civil rights workers.
|
