US History: Spiconardi H ATE & I NTOLERANCE IN THE 1920 S : T HE RE - EMERGENCE OF THE K U K LUX K LAN

O RIGINS  Founded in 1866 by Confederate soldiers to resist Reconstruction  Focused on intimidating “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” What are these terms?  Often used violence, although many members against use of violence  President Grant’s Civil Rights Act of 1871 had ended Klan Allowed for civil redress against the KKK (you could sue the KKK and gain financial compensation)

R E - EMERGENCE OF THE K LAN  Why?  The Birth of a Nation Film glorifies the original Klan  Creates a mythology about the KKK Plot  Gus a former slave and murder proposes to a white girl, Flora.  She flees into the forest where Gus chases her  Instead of allowing him to rape her, she leaps to her death  Gus is then lynched by the KKK

T HE B IRTH OF A N ATION

R E - EMERGENCE OF THE K LAN  Why?  Leo Franks A Jewish man in Atlanta was convicted of raping and murdering a woman  Franks was sentenced to death New evidence emerges casting doubt on Franks’ guilt  Governor of Georgia commutes the death sentence KKK kidnaps Franks from jail and lynch him

R E - EMERGENCE OF THE K LAN  Why?  Reaction to immigration As massive amounts of eastern Europeans came to America in the 1910s and 1920s, a new wave of xenophobia hit America  Great Migration As more and more blacks move to urban centers in the North during WWI, whites became intolerant of blacks

K LAN V IEWS  “Native, white, Protestant supremacy”  The rights and interests of white Americans must be protected  Anti-Semitic  Homophobic  Xenophobic

K LAN V IEWS

W HAT ’ S UP WITH THAT ?  The Burning Cross  Taken from a Scottish war tradition, in which soldiers set St. Andrew’s cross on fire to gather their forces  Ku Klux Klan: What does it mean?  Greek for circle, kyklos, and clan combined

The KKK was reformed in Stone Mountain, GA (1915) at a mountain carving depicting figures of the Confederate Army

R E -F ORMATION  By 1924, the Klan reached its peak in membership  Roughly 6 million members Why would anyone join a hate group?

H ATE G ROUPS T ODAY