The first Ku Klux Klan was created December 1865 in Pulaski Tennessee. It was created by six well educated white men who had all served in the civil war for the South (W.E.B.). The purpose of the Klan was to fulfill their ideas of what was right and just, however in order to fulfill those ideas they needed to go outside of the law. So they donned the hoods and robes in order to carry out their "justice" without fear of being found out.
Contrary to popular belief the KKK did not start out as just an anti-minority group. The Klan was against Loyal Leagues as well, which were groups of pro-union supporters who helped the North in the war. After the civil war ended, they let blacks into the Loyal Leagues. Even though they had mostly segregated groups, there were quite a few integrated groups and any integration was looked down upon by the Klan. "We Believe there can be no compromise on the matter of the segregation of the races." (Kloran).
The Loyal Leagues are named as such because they promoted loyalty to the Union, Abraham Lincoln, and his policies. The first KKK was also against the Republican Party because the ideals they stood for were almost everything the Klansmen were against. Some of these ideals are integration and equality.
Contrary to popular belief the KKK did not start out as just an anti-minority group. The Klan was against Loyal Leagues as well, which were groups of pro-union supporters who helped the North in the war. After the civil war ended, they let blacks into the Loyal Leagues. Even though they had mostly segregated groups, there were quite a few integrated groups and any integration was looked down upon by the Klan. "We Believe there can be no compromise on the matter of the segregation of the races." (Kloran).
The Loyal Leagues are named as such because they promoted loyalty to the Union, Abraham Lincoln, and his policies. The first KKK was also against the Republican Party because the ideals they stood for were almost everything the Klansmen were against. Some of these ideals are integration and equality.
The Ku Klux Klan is responsible for thousands of crimes against minority people since its creation. Although most of the deaths were of people of African descent, not all of the people who angered the Klan to the point of murder were black. The Klan wasn't just responsible for small murders, they were also responsible for a few large US events where many people died. One instance was the Fort Pillow Massacre.
Even though this event was before the official creation of the KKK, it was headed by the first Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest, and carried out by many future Klansmen (US). The group he led was responsible for 350 deaths, 60 wounded, and 164 captured and missing people (US)
"We believe that our future will not redeem our past. We will only drift from one terrible fiasco to another in complete lethargy unless we come to realize that there can be no compromise on the battlefield; no halfway in the fight for the preservation of our religion and freedom; it must be all or nothing. We now rest our case to your courage. Our accusers are persons, not America, our objective is freedom, not peace." (Kloran).
"We believe that our future will not redeem our past. We will only drift from one terrible fiasco to another in complete lethargy unless we come to realize that there can be no compromise on the battlefield; no halfway in the fight for the preservation of our religion and freedom; it must be all or nothing. We now rest our case to your courage. Our accusers are persons, not America, our objective is freedom, not peace." (Kloran).