The Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era Research Paper

The Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era - Research Paper Example Members of the Ku Klux Klan waged underground campaigns of intimidation and violence against white and black Republican leaders and, despite the Congress’s legislation that aimed to curb Klan terrorism, the KKK organization carried out its primary goal of establishing white supremacy by ensuring Democratic victories in state legislatures particularly in the southern states around 1870’s. The Ku Klux Klan has persisted over the decades, sometimes declining in influence, only to re-emerge later, renewed and powerful than before, thereby leading to the different chapters of the organization that have no connection with one another; this paper provides a detailed account of the Ku Klux Klan particularly in the reconstruction era. The reconstruction era The Reconstruction era in the US refers to the period 1865 to 1877, following the American Civil War, during which many efforts towards addressing the inequalities of slavery together with its socio-economic and political leg acy (Ramold 164). Conventionally, the reconstruction period is a time when vindictive radical republicans imposed black supremacy upon the defeated Confederacy, though, the late 2oth century reconstruction period is an experimental moment for interracial democracy. ... ttance into the Union; the laws and constitutional amendments that laid the foundation for the most radical phase of the reconstruction era came in place from 1866 to 1871, granting freedmen equal rights under the constitution. Following these reconstruction amendments, blacks were voting and taking political office; a politically mobilized black community coupled with their white allies brought the Republican Party to power, with a redefinition of government responsibilities. The Ku Klux Klan in the reconstruction era had one primary objective, which was to trounce the Republican attempts to establish equal political and economic rights for the blacks through intimidation and violence that was directed to both white and black Republican legislatures. The Ku Klux Klan fired violence was so pervasive that Congress had to pass the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, granting authorization for military protection of the blacks against the Klan violence and terrorism. The reconstruction era was a significant mark in the history of civil rights movements in the US (Wiesenberger 951), though, most historians remain highly critical of this period’s failure to curb white supremacy effectively. The Ku Klux Klan then The Ku Klux Klan was a construct of the former Confederate soldiers and it was very active in the period following the Civil War, lasting throughout the reconstruction era; the group was largely comprised of Democratic ex-Confederate veterans, poor white farmers, as well as, white southerners, who were sympathetic to the declining white supremacy. The Ku Klux Klan of the reconstruction era was a highly organized entity that spread fear and violence systematically; the Ku Klux Klan system was largely a militant politico in nature, and it was meant to influence power