1920’s the KKK Essay

The 1920s tag a stream of great racial tension end-to-end American Society, with the period often regarded as a run pot over c tout ensembleable to much(prenominal) strains and tensions. The immigration of unfermented, non-protestant immigrants such(prenominal) as Catholics and Jews since the turn of the carbon had brought about large scale restlessness payable to the sheer human action of immigrants. unite with Mexicans, Orientals as head as a rapidly increment b neglectened creation, these minority groups were to suffer at the hands of those pertain with the set of White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, with these values contend a fundamental role in the American centering of life.arguably, the Ku Klux Klan was builded concerning a culmination of such values, allowing for the tolerance of racial befools indoors the media, literature alongside at bottom formal governances. Its familiarity and make up ones mind stemmed from its prayer, which was broadened from blacks to incorporated the views of those who disliked immigrants, catholics, jews, bootleggers etc. Ultimately the KKKs plus in popularity in the aboriginal 1920s resulted in its crop.It can be argued that the KKK possessed both sizable musical accompaniment and significant settle imputable to its popular revival subsequent to WW1, with this having a nonability popular impact well into the 1920s. The levying spirit of intolerance which spread head crosswise much of America became spare due to the wartime revival of the the Ku Klux Klan. The organisation was remode lead and reorganised with modernistic techniques employ by both Edgar Clark and Elizabeth Taylor in instal to sell the Klan to America. A spot reason for its rise in popularity came as a result of D.W Griffiths necessitate The fork out of A Nation of 1915, due to the incident that it idolised and highlighted previous the Statesn values, and although those depicted in the film were outdated, some(prenom inal) the Statesns were reminded of a better america.This ultimately extend aversion towards blacks and black american due to an revise in attitudes, with this film resulting in the view that the American way of life was threatened, with this blest placed upon Negroes, Catholics, Atheists, Bootleggers, Jews and immigrants as a whole. Ultimately, Griffiths film provided a form of ammunition towards those who were not sporty, anglo-saxon protestants, so allowing for the ideology of the KKK to get more than populous and apparent throughout much of American Society. The group accentuate the notion of 100% Americanism, gum olibanum appeal to those who classed themselves as protestant fundamentalists as well as those who believed the traditional moral values reflected in Griffiths film were a account element of American society due to the overwhelming feeling of invasion and universe inundated, stimulating a desire to remedy the America they knew and loved.Furthermore, it can be argued that the root of the Klan were based in the weensy towns and communities of the Confederate states of the Confederacy, so proving a popular stand base through states such as Tennessee and Alabama. The ideology of the party appealed to those who has gone a pull togetherst the abolishment of sla precise and the libration of blacks, which a go from a sense apparent within rural protestant america in order to act on the defensive before an influx of new immigrants was allowed into the country. This ideology, combine with the war, fed the developing of abet for the Klan. The war engendered a form of nationalism, sparking aversion towards those to were not seen as true Americans.This appeal, and popularity was highlighted by the Klans popularity in 1921, which stimulated the development of a structure for the Klan due to the rapid growth in the number of members joining. The movement had 100,000 members, which were each(prenominal) pare of a Klavern, or branch, of the Klan. Furthermore, due to the fact that the KKKs appeal was in general sited in the Southern states, where the volume of black people lived, and the powerful idea of white supremacy went unquestioned, attempts were made to broaden the Klans appeal to the western and northern states, where Catholics and Jews became the targets. end-to-end the 1920s the Klans membership power apothegm an increase, estimates at the time ranged from 3-5 million and earnings rolled in from the sale these memberships, regalia, costumes and rituals. The Ku Klux Klan used intimidation, threats, beating and dismantle murder in their quest for a purified America, thus appealing to galore(postnominal) Americans due to their proactive approach, which had not been mirrored by that of the republican authorities during the period. An example of such forge is the alleged election of governors in Maine, carbon monoxide gas and Louisiana who had KKK life.Additionally, the Klan arguably aimed to defend the American way, reflecting business concern amongst many Americans who feared the emergence of more radical, especially accessibleist ideas, which had spread from easterly Europe due to the influx of immigrants during the primeval 20th Century. The Red Scare is a key proponent of this fear, thus providing the sodding(a) breeding ground for bigotry. Many Americans had either witnessed, or heard of the Bolshevik Russia, which was ultimate seen as a threat to the capitalistic society america has formed upon. In 1919 on that show up were 3,600 strikes involving over 400,000 workers, possibly high spot a feeling of tension and fear amongst a considerable proportion of the universe of discourse.Ultimately, this shake has proved that the KKK was a defender of such ideology, considerably suggesting that the Klan prospered in areas along sides small communities which had been formed by early pioneers where fears regarding diametric pagan groups, religions, political ideas and cultu ral sense of taste were ever apparent. Due to certain areas regarding these fears, those of farmers, artisans and shopkeepers of small-town america were as well hideed, consequently resulting in an increase in popularity leading to the KKK having roughly 5 million members by 1925. Furthermore, membership was not scarcely restricted to the poor, downtrodden American cosmos who felt marginalised, but also more and more involved middle classes citizens.Equally it was not exclusively a rural, southern organisation, due to the fact that there were drastic increased in membership from north and central states such as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. In many locations the local police seemed Klan-dominated, with judges also not remaining to seem impartial. Arguably therefore this suggests that the post-war revival of the Klan led to a drastic increase in the number of members, thus gaining substantiate and process as an increase in the number of members an organisation has ultimately l eads to a greater suffer base within a population, thus representing a larger number of the population making it more influential as a consequence. unless, the influence of the KKK continued to grow throughout the early 1920s as the the Federal Government did little to free poverty and socio-economic disadvantage amongst the rural population, sooner foc use interest and funds on urban locations such as innovative York where a considerable number of immigrants and blacks were focused. Although there were rare instances where President Warren Harding round out against racial segregation, for example in Birmingham, Alabama, many have argued that he did so primarily to win the electoral support of northern blacks. One historian even claimed that Harding had been inducted into the Ku Klux Klan in the White House during his presidency. Moreover the various administrations throughout the twenties seemed to absolve racial discrimination.A half-hearted attempt to take in an anti-lynch ing law in 1921 was defeated, with Southern Senators using a range of tactics to embarrass the legislation from world passed. condescension acknowledging the distinguish of lynching in his first address to Congress in 1923, Coolidge subsequently did not act on the problem. Moreover, on the eighteenth August 1925 the Ku Klux Klan was able to stage a 40,000 man parade down papa Avenue in Washington D.C with no intervention from state officials. Furthermore, the segregated facilities in government buildings introduced in the first ten dollar bill of the century remained unchanged. The fact that the American government during the twenties was seen to be continually ignoring and avoiding issues relate to ethnical minorities did not help to purify the hostile attitudes of its people, thus allowing for the KKK to gain a larger support base from which it could increase its influence.However, the influence of the KKK varied geographically to a considerable degree. In its peak cours e of 1925 around 40% of its members were based in three states Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Furthermore, another 25% were entrap in the honest-to-god south. Conversely in states along the pacific coast such as New England (except Maine), the KKK was relatively irrelevant. Although its point of greatest popular political influence was at the 1924 Democratic Convention, highlighting its influence at the very top, the representatives of the KKK in the form of Senators and Congressmen simply delineate a take in the Deep South.Therefore, it can be argued that the KKK did not achieve notable influence on a national level. Instead, it was simply one among many pressure groups sustenance prohibition and restriction upon immigration. Furthermore, although those groups discriminated against were classed as ethnic minorities as a whole they represented a considerable proportion of the population. Surely, the KKK could not have notable influence if a large proportion of the US population di d not agree with its ideology, and were instead being attacked and victimised? The racial discrimination towards ethnic minorities during the twenties highlighted the lack of popularity amongst many regarding the KKK. Blacks, Mexicans, and the upstart immigrants clustered as the bottom of the affiance scale. All were usually the last hired and the first fired and performed menially jobs. Mexicans were occupied as cheap labour on Californian farms.Wherever the minorities worked the native Americans saw them as a threat to their livelihood, as they normally accepted jobs that the whites did not want. Despite emancipation from slavery after the civilised War, the former slaves remained at the bottom of the social scale in the southern states, where the majority of blacks lived. Many were lacking economic independence, since they for the most part worked in white-owned land. Many poverty struck Blacks migrated from the south to the north during the twenties, to fill the guide for unskilled labour in the North. Although this spread some KKK ideology Northwards the popularity of the KKK remained relatively low due to higher levels of socialization within the North. Therefore it can be argued that although in many areas of the USA popularity for the KKK rose during the early 1920s, its popularity was limited to various geographical areas.Furthermore, even though popularity for the organisation increased, this did not necessarily lead to an increase in influence. Yes, in some states KKK members found their way into the legal system, or in states such as Indiana some became Senators and Congressmen. However, the needlelike fall from popularity of the organisation suggests a lack of overwhelming support and belief within the party. The fall of David Stephenson, the gGrand Dragon of Indiana Klans and regulator of the state, highlighted a lack of true ideals amongst leading of the KKK. Surely if an organisation was to succeed and gain influence those at the top of its pecking order needed to support all beliefs? Stephenson was convicted of scandalize of a 28 year old secretary on an overnight train, thus going against protestant concepts.Ultimately this showed legion(predicate) characteristics far removed from ideals publicly espoused This, combined with financial scandals within other Klans has led to a groovy fall in membership by 1930, to a approximate of roughly 200,000. This meant that the Klan were no longer a player on the national state, losing all significant influence and support. However, despite this sharp decline in popularity in 1929/1930, the support and more importantly the tolerance that many American people showed for the Ku Klux Klan during the twenties serves as evidence to show that attitudes towards ethnic minorities had been very much altered, thus allowing for the Klan to capitalise on this widespread ideology in order to gain some support an influence in a handful of states, which were typically confederate.