There were three different phases in time when the Ku Klux Klan was popular

Six middle-class Confederate veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee, created the original Ku Klux Klan on December 24, 1865, in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War.

• Six middle-class Confederate veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee, created the original Ku Klux Klan on December 24, 1865, in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War.

• Their side which had opposed the removal of slavery had lost in the American Civil War. They were embittered and chose to call the group they formed ‘ku klux klan’.

• They chose kyklos from the Greek which means circle or a political cycle – from this we can see they wanted to change the post war political freedom for the blacks and coloured people

• There were three different phases in time when the Ku Klux Klan was popular:

• The first phase (1865-1870) had 55,000 people.

• The second phase (1915-1944) had 4,000,000 people.

• The third phase (still going on since 1946 after the second world war)

• They called the leader of the ‘Klan’ the grand wizard.

William Joseph Simmons was the founder of the second Ku Klux Klan on the thanksgiving night on 1915. He was a Methodist preacher who was sacked by his church for incompetence. He was elected ‘emperor for life’.

• William Joseph Simmons was the founder of the second Ku Klux Klan on the thanksgiving night on 1915. He was a Methodist preacher who was sacked by his church for incompetence. He was elected ‘emperor for life’.

• Why he formed it?

• How did it start? (what event)

• How did it end?

(the main target was blacks)-the KKK members wanted a return to the old days

• (the main target was blacks)-the KKK members wanted a return to the old days

• (when whites were in charge and the blacks were slaves.

Another thing that influenced the Klan was conviction and lynching of a Jewish factory manager from Atlanta named Leo Frank. In newspaper accounts, Frank was accused of the rape and murder of Mary Phagan, a girl employed at his factory. After a trial in Georgia where a mob daily surrounded the courtroom, Frank was convicted. Because the armed mob was here, the judge asked Frank and his counsel to stay away when the verdict was announced. Frank's appeals failed. After the govenor commuted Frank’s sentence to life imprisonment,a mob calling itself the Knights of Mary Phagan kidnapped Frank from prison and lynched him.

• Another thing that influenced the Klan was conviction and lynching of a Jewish factory manager from Atlanta named Leo Frank. In newspaper accounts, Frank was accused of the rape and murder of Mary Phagan, a girl employed at his factory. After a trial in Georgia where a mob daily surrounded the courtroom, Frank was convicted. Because the armed mob was here, the judge asked Frank and his counsel to stay away when the verdict was announced. Frank's appeals failed. After the govenor commuted Frank’s sentence to life imprisonment,a mob calling itself the Knights of Mary Phagan kidnapped Frank from prison and lynched him.

Klan members adopted masks and robes that hid their identities and added to the drama of their night rides, their chosen time for attacks. Many of them operated in small towns and rural areas where people otherwise knew each other’s faces, and sometimes still recongnized the attackers.

• Klan members adopted masks and robes that hid their identities and added to the drama of their night rides, their chosen time for attacks. Many of them operated in small towns and rural areas where people otherwise knew each other’s faces, and sometimes still recongnized the attackers.

Union Army veterans in mountainous Blount County, Alabama, organized by “the anti-Ku Klux.” They put an end to violence by threatening Klansmen unless they stopped whipping Unionists and burning black churches and schools. Armed blacks formed their own defense in Bennettsville, South Carolina and patrolled the streets to protect their homes.

• Union Army veterans in mountainous Blount County, Alabama, organized by “the anti-Ku Klux.” They put an end to violence by threatening Klansmen unless they stopped whipping Unionists and burning black churches and schools. Armed blacks formed their own defense in Bennettsville, South Carolina and patrolled the streets to protect their homes.