The KKK
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded by Confederate veterans in Tennessee in 1866. As it grew rapidly throughout the South, it evolved into violent terrorist organizations. By 1868, the KKK, was almost in every Southern state. Its main goal was to restore white supremacy by preventing black Americans to exercise their political rights.
Southern whites were frustrated with policies from Congress giving former slaves the right of suffrage. As a result, the KKK turned to intimidation and violence as a means for white supremacy. The Klan targeted local Republican leaders and blacks who challenged their white employers. The North Carolina state senator, John Stephens, was assassinated by the Klan because he would not abandon his 3,000 black voters. Klan members tried to hide their identities when they struck. Even whites who tried to help African Americans by educating them, or buying their crops, were also in danger.
Since all Southerners concurred with the KKK and the government did nothing to enforce anti-segregation laws, there was no one to stop the Klan's horrific treatment towards African Americans.
Southern whites were frustrated with policies from Congress giving former slaves the right of suffrage. As a result, the KKK turned to intimidation and violence as a means for white supremacy. The Klan targeted local Republican leaders and blacks who challenged their white employers. The North Carolina state senator, John Stephens, was assassinated by the Klan because he would not abandon his 3,000 black voters. Klan members tried to hide their identities when they struck. Even whites who tried to help African Americans by educating them, or buying their crops, were also in danger.
Since all Southerners concurred with the KKK and the government did nothing to enforce anti-segregation laws, there was no one to stop the Klan's horrific treatment towards African Americans.