The KKK was founded in 1866 in almost all Southern states. This group was formed by white Southerners to show the resistance from the Republican Party's Reconstruction- era polices. The activities of the Ku Klux Klan group included bombing of churches, black schools, and starting violence in the South with blacks and whites. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first leader (grand Wizard) of the Ku Klux Klan group. The South was divided into five military areas. Each state needed to approve the 14th Amendment. The 14th amendment" granted equal protection of the Constitution to former slaves and enacted universal male suffrage." In 1870 almost all Southern states were involved in the Ku Klux Klan group. they were the "Invisible Empire" of the South. The group had started in the second phase of the Civil War Reconstruction. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act in 1865- 1866 over the presidential veto. The Ku Klux Klan group did not have a well structured organization, and did not show good leadership. KKK members were dressed and wore masks. Local law enforcements were other apart of the Ku Klux Klan group or did not want to take action against the organization. The South turned to Congress to help them with the strongest Enforcement Acts, which is called the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. Ulysses . Grant used the expansion of federal authority in 1871 to banish the Ku Klux Klan's activities in South Carolina and other states in the South. The second group of Ku Klux Klan's were not only against African Americans, but were against Jews, Foreigners, Roman Catholics, an organized labor. The Ku Klux Klan's symbol was burning of crosses. They were at their highest point in the 1920's. The group exceeded over 4 million people nationwide. The group had ended for a while in 1944, but were brought back together.
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