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Early History of the Ku Klux Klan

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The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920’s realm had a greater impact than its version in the 1860’s because it had greater motives and targets to go after. They broadened their horizons to not only African Americans, but Catholics, Jews, and foreigners. The K.K.K. of the 1860s were founded in 1866. An underground campaign of intimidation and violence towards white and black Republicans. Almost every southern state used the "KKK" as way to let out their hatred. The K.K.K. of the 1920’s began again 1865. Group of Ex-Confederate soldiers met in to form a Secret Society of white men dedicated to restoring and resisting laws. Sort of a "Social Club" for whites, but they took it further and wore white robes with hoods to hide their faces even though their identities were pretty much known already. They claimed to be ghosts of dead confederate soldiers. 50 years later after the Klan had died down. Colonel William Joseph Simmons revived the Klu Klux Klan after seeing D. W. Griffith's film, Birth of a Nation. The movie portrayed the Klansmen as hero like people. In his first official act, Colonel, climbed to the top of a local mountain and a cross on fire to mark the rebirth of the klan. The klan moved beyond just targeting blacks, and broadened its message of hate to include Catholics, Jews and foreigners. There are many similarities and differences between the K.K.K. of the 1860’s and 1960’s. The 1860’s had less targets to go after. They started off as a small group even though the had substantially increased over time. They tried to keep their identities hidden from most people around even though people really knew. The K.K.K. of the 1920’s had a major difference in their targets. They decided they did not wanna just go after African Americans anymore. They went after African Americans, Jews, Catholics, Foreigners, and people that helped their targets. Another difference is they did not really try to keep their identities a secret. They w

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