What Is The Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan?

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan believed in society working a certain way, with certain people. Anything that went against their ideas of ‘perfect’ was seen as a problem to be fixed. These problems included minority groups. Many people are taught and believe that the KKK was responsible for the lynching of African Americans after the Civil War. However, after WWI in the 1920s, which is not as frequently talked about when it comes to the KKK, was a new form of the KKK. These new Klansmen disliked Roman Catholics, Jews, foreigners, bootleggers, and divorcees in addition to African Americans. Each state which strong KKK activity had a leader. And nationally there were two leaders, Edward Clarke and Bessie Tyler, who both took over the Klan in 1920. …show more content…
The KKK were people classified as not being able to cope with modern, urban society. “But recent scholarship shows that Klan members were a cross-section of native Protestants; many were women, and many came from urban areas” (Digital History, 2014). At the KKK’s peak during 1924, they had control of 24 of the 48 state legislators, and could control who was nominated to run. Today, the Klan still shows lasting effects, as many counties in the south, where the KKK was most popular, are more likely to vote Republican, as that was the influence on the voters in the 60’s and onward. The resurgence of the KKK in the 1920s not only had Klansmen singling out African Americans as many people believe, but many other minority groups, and controlled the voting, the aftereffects of which are seen