Six Confederate Army veterans looking for “amusement” founded the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee in 1865. Transition from a social club to a white racist vigilante organization did not take long in the stressful postwar period. Although this first Klan was officially disbanded within a few years, other Klans would rise to prominence during the next century to foment violence and hate against blacks as well as Catholics, Jews, communists, socialists and immigrants. Thought-provoking primary source documents like Reconstruction-era political cartoons; Klan pamphlets, photographs, broadsides and business cards; and an application for membership in the Junior Ku Klux Klan are sure to stimulate classroom discussion on the causes and consequences of bigotry, racism and hate. Historian: Christine Brendel Scriabine. The contents of this Focus Jackdaw feature:

Support Materials

• Illustrated Broadsheet Essay
• Timeline
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Recommended Reading List

Historical Documents

• Early anti-Klan political cartoons, 1868-1874.
• Letters from “Outrages by Ku-Klux Klan,” House of Representatives, 40th Congress, 1869.
• Klan pamphlet, “The Practice of Klanishness,” 1924.
• Application for membership in Junior Ku Klux Klan, c. 1924.
• Second Klan photo-poster, 1920s-1940s.
• Klan pamphlet, “The Principle of the United Klans of America, c. 1961.
• Broadsides and business cards from the third Klan, 1960s-1970s.