1920’s the KKK Essay

The 1920s marked a period of great racial tension passim American Society, with the period often regarded as a melting pot collect to such strains and tensions. The immigration of new, non-protestant immigrants such as Catholics and Jews since the turn of the century had brought ab erupt long scale unease call(a)able to the sheer number of immigrants. Combined with Mexicans, Orientals as well as a rapidly growing sear population, these minority groups were to suffer at the custody of those concerned with the values of White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants, with these values playing a inherent role in the American way of life.Arguably, the Ku Klux Klan was formed concerning a ending of such values, allowing for the tolerance of racist realizes in spite of appearance the media, literature onside indoors formal schemes. Its ordinaryity and work on stemmed from its put forward, which was broadened from blacks to incorporate the views of those who disliked immigrants, catholics, jews, bootleggers etc. eventually the KKKs add in popularity in the early 1920s resulted in its influence.It can be argued that the KKK possessed both sizable support and large influence due to its popular revivification subsequent to WW1, with this having a storied popular impact well into the 1920s. The growing spirit of intolerance which bed cover across to a greater extent than of America became apparent due to the wartime revival of the the Ku Klux Klan. The organic faithfulness was remodeled and reorganised with new techniques used by both Edgar Clark and Elizabeth Taylor in tell apart to sell the Klan to America. A key reason for its rise in popularity came as a result of D.W Griffiths select The Birth of A Nation of 1915, due to the event that it idolised and highlighted previous the Statesn values, and although those portrayed in the film were outdated, galore(postnominal) americans were reminded of a better america.This ultimately add-ond hatred towards blac ks and black american due to an alteration in attitudes, with this film resulting in the view that the American way of life was threatened, with this blame placed upon Negroes, Catholics, Atheists, Bootleggers, Jews and immigrants as a whole. Ultimately, Griffiths film provided a form of ammunition towards those who were non white, anglo-saxon protestants, therefrom allowing for the ideology of the KKK to become more populous and apparent throughout more of American Society. The group emphasised the nonion of 100% Americanism, thence draw to those who classed themselves as protestant fundamentalists as well as those who believed the traditional object lesson values reflected in Griffiths film were a key element of American society due to the overwhelming feeling of invasion and universe inundated, bear upon a desire to restore the America they knew and loved.Furthermore, it can be argued that the grow of the Klan were based in the small towns and communities of the Souther n states of the Confederacy, indeed proving a popular support base through states such as Tennessee and Alabama. The ideology of the governmental party orisoned to those who has gone against the abolition of slavery and the libration of blacks, which arose from a sense apparent within rural protestant america in coiffe to act on the defensive before an influx of new immigrants was allowed into the country. This ideology, combined with the war, fed the harvesting of support for the Klan. The war engendered a form of nationalism, sparking hatred towards those to were not seen as straight Americans.This appeal, and popularity was highlighted by the Klans popularity in 1921, which stimulated the development of a social organization for the Klan due to the rapid growth in the number of members joining. The movement had 100,000 members, which were all(prenominal) pare of a Klavern, or branch, of the Klan. Furthermore, due to the fact that the KKKs appeal was mainly sited in the S outhern states, where the majority of black raft lived, and the in good order 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.Throughout the 1920s the Klans membership dictum an increase, estimates at the time ranged from 3-5 million and profits rolled in from the exchange these memberships, regalia, costumes and rituals. The Ku Klux Klan used intimidation, threats, beating and even murder in their quest for a purified America, thus appealing to many Americans due to their proactive approach, which had not been mirrored by that of the republican government during the period. An example of such influence is the alleged election of governors in Maine, Colorado and Louisiana who had KKK support.Additionally, the Klan arguably aimed to crusade the American way, reflecting fear amongst many Americans who feared the emergence of more radical, especially collectiv ist ideas, which had spread from Eastern Europe due to the influx of immigrants during the early twentieth Century. The Red Scare is a key proponent of this fear, thus providing the perfective breeding ground for bigotry. some(prenominal) Americans had either witnessed, or heard of the Bolshevistic Russia, which was ultimate seen as a threat to the capitalist society america has formed upon. In 1919 there were 3,600 strikes involving over 400,000 workers, possibly set off a feeling of tension and fear amongst a huge proportion of the population.Ultimately, this dull 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 different ethnic groups, religions, political ideas and cultural taste were ever apparent. Due to certain areas regarding these fears, those of farmers, artisans and shopkeepers of small-town america were in lik e manner addressed, consequently resulting in an increase in popularity leading to the KKK having more or less 5 million members by 1925. Furthermore, membership was not barely restricted to the poor, downtrodden American population who felt marginalised, but also increasingly involved nub 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 of import states such as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. In many locations the local police seemed Klan-dominated, with judge 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 support and influence as an increase in the number of members an organisation has ultimately leads to a greater support base within a population, thus representing a larger number of the population making it more influential as a consequence.Moreo ver, the influence of the KKK continued to grow throughout the early 1920s as the the Federal Government did little to help poverty and socio-economic disadvantage amongst the rural population, instead focusing interest and funds on urban locations such as New York where a big number of immigrants and blacks were focused. Although there were rare instances where President Warren Harding spoke 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 condone racial discrimination.A half-hearted attempt to introduce an anti-lynching law in 1921 was defeated, with Southern Senators using a range of tactics to maintain the legislation from being passed. Despite acknowledging the issue of lynchi ng in his rootage address to Congress in 1923, Coolidge subsequently did not act on the problem. Moreover, on the 18th August 1925 the Ku Klux Klan was able to stage a 40,000 man parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C with no intervention from state officials. Furthermore, the segregated facilities in government buildings introduced in the starting decade of the century remained unchanged. The fact that the American government during the twenties was seen to be continually ignoring and avoiding issues related to ethnic minorities did not help to improve the head-on 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 poll year of 1925 around 40% of its members were based in three states Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Furthermore, some other 25% were found in the old south. Conversely in states along the pacific coast such as New England (except Maine), the KKK was relatively irrelevant. Although its daub 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 pocket 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 supporting 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 did 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 recent immigrants clustered as the bottom of the wage scale. All were unremarkably the last hired and the first fired and performed menially jobs. Mexicans were employed as cheap labour on Californian farms.Wherever the minorities worked the native Americans axiom them as a threat to their livelihood, as they normally accepted jobs that the whites did not want. Despite emancipation from slavery after the Civil 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 largely worked in white-owned land. Many poverty infatuated Blacks migrated from the south to the north during the twenties, to fill the demand 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 assimilation within the North. Therefore it can be ar gued 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 sagacious flag 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 Governor of the state, highlighted a lack of true ideals amongst leaders of the KKK. Surely if an organisation was to succeed and gain influence those at the top of its hierarchy needed to support all beliefs? Stephenson was convicted of rape of a 28 year old secretary on an overnight train, thus going against protestant concepts.Ultimately this showed numerous characteris tics far removed from ideals publicly espoused This, combined with financial scandals within other Klans has led to a sharp fall in membership by 1930, to a figure 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 fistful of states, which were typically confederate.