The Invisible Empire

KKK

The Klan was founded in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, by six veterans of the Confederate Army. The term proposes a band of brothers. Although there wasn’t any organizational construction above the resident level, parallel sets arose across the South, embracing the name and procedures.  Klan groups spread throughout the South as a rebellious movement during the Reconstruction era in the United States. As a secret group, the Klan embattled freedmen and their helpers; it sought to reinstate white supremacy by intimidations and violence, including murder, against black and white Republicans. In 1870 and 1871, the federal government approved the Force Acts, which were used to arraign Klan crimes. Prosecution of Klan crimes and enforcement of the Force Acts repressed Klan activity. In 1874, newly organized and openly active organizations, like the White League and the Red Shirts, underwent a replacement round of viciousness intended on suppressing black votes and pushing Republicans out of office. These groups contributed to segregationist white Democrats recovering political influence in all the Southern states by 1877.