Republiacns! Unfavorable Acts Caused The Rise Of The Kkk :: essays research papers

Republiacns! Unfavorable Acts Caused The Rise of The KKK The years after the civil war were frustrating times for the Americans. New laws and rules were posted for which to abide by and due to the outcome of the civil war, the people from the south had now to accept the new slavery laws issued by the political parties and congress. This created turmoil amongst both northerners, who mostly were against slavery, and southerners. This was also true for both political parties that consisted of the Republicans and the Democratics. Again the issue was always on the rights of blacks. The battles with certain individuals who felt it their duty to stand up for their idea of what the American way was. In 1866, just a year after the civil war, six confederate veterans formed a social club in the small town of Pulaski Tennessee. These men were set out to perpetuate white supremacy through out the south. The social club became official. The members came up with the name of Ku Klux Klan. It was a name taken from the Greek word "Kuklos" which means circle. They came up with rituals copied from college fraternities. They also assigned positions to special members. They were composed of the Grand Cyclop, The President, the Grand Magi, the vice-president, and the Grand Exchequer, the treasurer. The Klansmen adopt a uniform. The uniforms were white, long robes, White masks, And high pointed hats. ( Ingalls, Hoods 3 ) Adopted during 1866-67, the Republican party's Reconstruction program threatened to turn southern society upside down. The promise of equal rights for blacks flew in the face of the widely held opinion of the white Southerners that the black race was innately inferior. This deep-seated racist belief had served to justify slavery, and it remained a major obstacle to uplifting blacks after the civil war. Indeed, Antiblack hatred drove some whites to extreme measures to resist Reconstruction. ( Ingalls, Hoods 6 ) The Republicans feared that barrings the blacks from politics would make the Democratics Party dominant again in the south and in congress. Congress divided the south into five military districts controlled by martial law. It took the vote away from large numbers of rebel whites. It declared that all black men could vote and hold office. And it ordered the rebel states to write new and democratic constitutions. Since Tennessee had become the first southern state to give black men and freed slaves the right to vote, it became most affected. ( Meltzer, 23 ) With the republican party controlling state government, exconfederates began to take up arms to oppose Reconstruction.