Reconstruction Era - EOTO - Ku Klux Klan

In 1866 a group of Confederate veterans located in Tennessee banded together with a common goal of restoring white supremacy in the United States. Together they formed the Ku Klux Klan, KKK for short. This isn’t to be confused with the Knights of the White Camelia, which was founded around the same time in Louisiana. The Klan named themselves after the Greek word Kyklos, which means Circle.

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In order to restore white supremacy, the Klan resorted to violence and intimidation tactics. This was also the reason why they wore White robes, it was to evoke fear and intimidate African Americans. One of their main targets at the time was a group called the Freedman Bureau. 

To give a little history of the Freedman Bureau, they were a group of African Americans who helped provide necessities such as food, clothing’s, healthcare, and education to Africans Americans in the south. This group didn’t only consist of African Americans but also had white supporters.

This group of people was the Klan’s main target and the Klan whipped and killed many of the Freedman supporters during nighttime raids.

The Klan quickly grew because of their presence at a convention on Nashville Tennessee. This conference was attended by a lot of representatives from other confederate states. The Klan also elected a Grand

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Wizard, a confederate general named Nathan Bedford Forrest. General Forrest was not one of the founders of the Klan, but it is believed that he was one of the first Grand Wizards of the Klan. 

The Klan reached its peak between 1868 and 1870. At this time, they successfully restored white rule in southern states such as Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. This led to congress passing the Force act of 1870 and eventually the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.