AA - Opposition Flashcards
What were the 4 main groups that tried to hinder AA civil rights?
- The Ku Klux Klan
- The White Citizens Council
- State Gov.s and officials
- Fed. Gov.
When and where was the KKK first established?
1867 in Nashville
Who founded the KKK?
Nathan Forest - called the Grand Wizard.
What were the KKKs activities during the early period of its establishment?
Intimidation and lynchings of African Americans.
Physically attacked former slaves. Attacked workers of the Freedman’s Bureau. Intimidated AA who tried to vote and tried to stop AA children attending schools. These activities continued late in to twentieth century.
What was the membership of the KKK in Tennessee in 1871?
40,000
What was the membership of the KKK in the South in early 1870s?
Around half a million.
Why was there a decline in the Klan in in 1870s?
Activities met by a strong fed. response. The gov. had to resort to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment as southern juries were unwilling to convict members.
Hayes-Tilden compromise - troops withdraw from South = less need for the Klan.
When was there a resurgence of the KKK, why and under who?
1915 under the leadership of William Joseph Simmons. Largely encouraged by the release of the film The Birth of a Nation which portrayed the Klan as heroic and fighting against northern tyranny after the war.
Who was the KKKs hostility extended towards after 1915?
Jews, Catholics and foreigners.
What was the KKKs membership in 1924?
Peaked 6 million
Why did it decline again after 1924?
Partly due to a sexual scandal involving the Grand Wizard D.C. Stephenson in Indiana and was mostly defunct by 1944.
Why was there some resurgence of the KKK in the 1960s?
Attacked Freedom Riders w/ the tactic approval of Southern Police authorities. Something of a revival in the 70s. Attacked civil rights campaigners.
What occurred in 1981 which meant the KKK declined again?
Execution of a member in 1981 for a lynching 16 yrs earlier sent a clear message.
Last KKK lynching - Michael Donald, beaten to death and hung from a tree.
1st time since 1913 a white man was sentenced to death for killing a Black man.
When was the White Citizens Council formed and why?
After Brown v. Board SC ruling in 1954. Protesting the desegregation of schools.
What did the White Citizens Council do?
Encouraged intimidation of AA trying to register to vote and hostile actions towards civil rights initiatives.
