The Reign of the Ku Klux KlanThe Ku Klux Klan-Formed after the Civil War, by Confederate veterans.-They worked to enforce etiquette and used vigilante justice against those whom they accused of violating it.

-Their punishments ranged from intimidation or beatings, to lynchings (killing someone without a trial, usually by hanging).

-Due to their cruel tactics and federal laws against them, they mostly died off in the 1870s.

The Birth of a Nation (1915)-The 1st blockbuster film ever made. Ticket sales broke records.

-The movie takes place during and after the Civil War and portrays blacks as running their nightmarish “black empire” in which no white woman is safe.

-The movie ends up being an origin story about the KKK. Portrays them as heroes who defend the weak.-Features lots of white men in black face.

-Act like idiots and animals-Put bare feet on tables, bother women, dance goofily.

-In it, a freed slave is lynched for wanting to marry a white woman. His body is dumped on the front steps of the Sheriff's office.

-This led to a huge revival of the KKK.

KKK parade 1926 - Washington, DCKKK membership estimated to be

around 4 million in the 1920s

The Ku Klux Klan Today-Since the 1970s the Klan has been greatly weakened by internal fighting and government undercover operations.

-While some branches have kept an openly racist and militant approach, others have tried to enter the mainstream, disguising their racism as mere "civil rights for whites."

-Numbers have sharply declined.*Estimated to be between

5,000 and 8,000 today.100 KKK came to SC in July to protest the Confederate Flag being taken down from government property.

KKK Rally in 1946

A klansman hangs a noose out of a car window to intimidate black voters in Miami in 1939. Members drove 75

cars around that day.