Ku Klux Klan And The Reconstruction Era

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The infamous white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, formed its roots in the southern states shortly after the American Civil War during the time period known as the Reconstruction Era. This Reconstruction Era was the idea of the nation working together in order to put the United States back to its previous state that it was before the war began. Abraham Lincoln’s goal was to join the nation as one now that it had officially prohibited slavery in the United States (Howard). As a secretive clan of brothers the Ku Klux Klan wanted white supremacy in the United States and in order to accomplish this, the members targeted political parties and former slaves using various methods during the Reconstruction Era, in which they were founded.
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Although the Klan seemed very secretive they made public appearances quite regularly, however they were covered in the white bed cloths so no one would be able to identify them (The Ku Klux Klan- A Secret History (History Channel)). The Klan participated in “night rides”; these night rides would consist of male members riding around in the sheets scaring the recently freed slaves claiming they were ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers (The Ku Klux Klan- A Secret History (History …show more content…
These measures include murder of Republicans, intimidation of voters, burning predominately black schools and churches. It is believed that the first major act of the Klan’s terrorist acts began in March 1868 (Bryant). On March 31, 1868 the Ku Klux Klan took the drastic step of murdering George Ashburn who was a Republican organizer who lived in Columbus, Georgia. (Bryant) From this act of murder the Klan violence spread all throughout Georgia, which was a predominately black state. From January 1st until November 15th it is reported that there were three hundred thirty-six incidents of murder and assault with the intent to kill on freedmen; in Georgia alone (Bryant). The other states were not immune to the Ku Klux Klan. These mass killings also took place in states such as Kansas and Louisiana (Station) . Kansas suffered over two thousand deaths stemming from the 1868 presidential election (Station). Louisiana did not suffer as much as Georgia and Kansas, however the state lost one thousand blacks nearing the election (Station). The majority of the violence which stemmed from the Klan was ways for them to intimidate African-American voters and those who supported the Republican Party, whether that be African-Americans or whites. The acts of violence were sometimes displayed publicly or more typically the night rides as were mentioned above. Intimidation at the voting was not just limited to African-Americans
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