History & Currents: The Ku Klux Klan
There are two seperate Ku Klux Klan secret organizations, the Klan circa 1865-1873 and the modern Klan, established 1915.
The first was founded December 15th as a social club for Confederate veterans in Polaski, Tennessee by Captain John C. Lester, Major James R. Crowe, John B. Kennedy, Calvin Jones, Richard R. Reed and Frank O. McCord. Ku and Klux derived from the Greek kyklos, meaning 'circle' or 'band'; during the same time period Kuklos Aldelphon was a popular fraternity. The Klan was 'supposedly' intended as a band of brothers, but it transformed into a white Southron movement to destroy Radical Reconstruction through terror. They used intimidation and violence to suppress blacks and achieve white supremacy. Offshoots included the Knights of the White Camelia.
Organizational rules: an absolute secrecy oath in regard to the Order (a member couldn't disclose ANY membership), members were required to attend meetings (held in a brick house on a hilltop near Polaski) adorned in long white robes and extremely tall white pasteboard hats with masks.
Structure: Grand Cyclops (president), Grand Maji (vice-president), Grand Turk (marshal), Grand Exchequer (treasurer), and two Lictors (outer and inner guards of the Den armed with spears).
Supposedly their early activities of outrageous initiation ceremonies were deliberate ploys to mystify outsiders. During the summer of 1866, the membership rapidly increased.
With new membership came new names and titles: Klavern (brick meeting house), Kleagles (organizers and recruiters), Exalted Cyclops (president), Klaliff (vice-president), Kligrapp (secretary) and Klandom (entire organization).
Shortly after, the Klandom was designated 'The Invisible Empire'; the president became known as the Grand Wizard. His cabinet was composed of ten Genii. Their internal system became Klancraft and their language was termed Klanguage.
The Klan lost its status as a benign social club when, because of the organizational mechanisms and membership potential, Klansmen perceived a structure that could become a point of resistance against the Radical Reconstruction.
Since the Klan was a secret organization its history is disputable, but Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Freemason, is generally accepted as the first Grand Wizard.
Albert Pike†1891 held office as Chief Justice of the KKK while simultaneously presiding as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite of Masonry (Southern Jurisdiction). Masons downgrade his importance in current KKK activities by noting he died 24 years before the present organization's birth. Pike was the only Confederate General to command indigenous troops. He wrote Everybody's Dixie:
(chorus)Southrons, hear your country call you,
Up, lest worse than death befall you!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Lo! all the beacon-fires are lighted,--
Let all hearts be now united!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
(Advance the flag of Dixie!
Hurrah! Hurrah!)In Dixie's land we take our stand,
And live or die for Dixie!
To arms! To arms!
And conquer peace for Dixie!
To arms! To arms!
And conquer peace for Dixie!Hear the Northern thunders mutter!
Northern flags in South winds flutter!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Send them back your fierce defiance!
Stamp upon the cursed alliance!
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!)Fear no danger! Shun no labor!
Lift up rifle, pike, and sabre!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Shoulder pressing close to shoulder,
Let the odds make each heart bolder!
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!)How the South's great heart rejoices
At your cannon's ringing voices!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
For faith betrayed and pledges broken,
Wrongs inflicted, insults spoken,
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!)Strong as lions, swift as eagles,
Back to their kennels hunt these beagles!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Cut the unequal bonds asunder!
Let them hence each other plunder!
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!)Swear upon your country's altar
Never to submit or falter--
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Till the spoilers are defeated,
Till the Lord's work is completed!
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!)Halt not till our Federation
Secures among earth's powers its station!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Then at peace and crowned with glory,
Hear your children tell the story!
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!)If the loved ones weep in sadness,
Victory soon shall bring them gladness--
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Exultant pride soon vanish sorrow;
Smiles chase tears away to-morrow!
(To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!--CHORUS)The uniform, white sheets and hoods, was utilized to scare superstitious blacks and conceal identity from Union soldiers (the post-war South was under visible martial law). Klansmen, under moon's light, murdered blacks and their white supporters.
The Klan's growth alarmed political leaders. On 25 February 1867, Tennessee Governor Brownlow proclaimed unlawful Klansmen action "must and SHALL cease", or else the militia would be activated. By spring 1867, a Klan reorganization took place at the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, it led up to a formal statement of character and purpose produced in 1868:
"This is an institution of Chivalry, Humanity, Mercy, and Patriotism; embodying in its genius and its principles all that is chivalric in conduct, noble in sentiment, generous in manhood, and patriotic in purpose; to protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless, from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal; to relieve and assist the injured, oppressed, suffering, and unfortunate, especially widows and orphans of the Confederate soldiers; and to support the United States Constitution and constitutional laws."In 1869 excessive violence ruled supreme and Forrest ordered the group to disband. Most members complied, but local groups continued their activities, hence the Congress of 1871 passed the Force Act and Ku Klux Act, which allowed the President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and quell domestic disturbances by such terrorist activities through force. By the time the Supreme Court ruled the Ku Klux Act unconstitutional (1882, United States vs. Harris), the suppression succeded leaving the Klan virtually powerless; hundreds of Klansmen had been arrested for conspiracy.When President Grant signed the Ku Klux Act, Congress established a joint twenty-one member committee to "inquire into the condition of the late insurrectionary states". By mid-February, 1872, the committee completed its work. People from all segments of society testified before the committee as did Grand Wizard Forrest and General John B. Gordon. Suspected members, because of secrecy oaths, and Confederates didn't offer much information. Black witnesses were extremely cooperative. Forrest testified he fought terrorism and attempted to disband the organization after its notoriety became villainous. Gordon testified he organized a "purely peace police" to defend communities against Negro criminality [U.S. House of Representatives 449].
Regardless what either party said, the Klan, whether or not it started out as a benevolent Southron brotherhood, was a organization that engaged in criminal activities, e.g., murder, assault and thievery. The products of the Klan's activities were increased Federal powers to quell domestic disturbances.
The modern Klan was formed in Atlanta, Georgia and attained a national membership of 4,000,000 by 1925. Jews, Roman Catholics and foreigners were added to their list of targets. During the Depression, the Klan's membership waned only to emerge again in the 1960s.
Sources:
Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia, ©1985, 'Ku Klux Klan...'Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan
by David Mark Chalmers
(paperback, 477 pages, 3rd edition, April 1987,
Duke Univ Press; ISBN 0822307723)Bibliography of the Writings of Albert Pike
by Ray Baker Harris
(paperback, March 1997,
Kessinger Publishing Company; ISBN 1564594483)Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest
by John A. Wyeth
(hardcover, 656 pages, August 1996; ISBN 0785807055)Knights of the White Camelia: The Evolution of the Fourth Reich
by James Hester
(paperback, May 1994,
Seaside Press; ISBN 1881116530)