Key Concept Question:
5-1.3 What was the purpose and what were the motivations of subversive groups during Reconstruction?
During the Reconstruction period several discriminatory groups developed in order to intimidate the freedmen. The most infamous of these was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Originally the KKK was a social organization of ex-Confederate soldiers, but it soon grew into a terrorist group. The goal of the KKK was to use violence, intimidation, and voter fraud to keep African Americans from exercising their rights under the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments so that whites could regain control of state governments. Public lynchings, or hangings, became common methods of intimidating, or threatening, African Americans who did not ‘know their place.’ Although the federal government made some feeble, or weak, attempts to control the KKK and other groups who practiced racial discrimination and intimidation, by 1876 these groups had achieved their purpose.
The election of 1876 was so riddled with fraud that the electoral votes in three states were called into question. The election was decided by the House of Representatives. Democrats agreed to support the election of the Republican candidate in exchange for the removal of all federal troops from the South. This Compromise of 1877 resulted in the end of Reconstruction and African Americans were abandoned by the federal government
Democrats won control of the southern state governments. The constitutional rights gained by the “Civil War” amendments (13-15) were regularly violated by terrorist groups like the KKK (Klan) which included working class whites as well as businessmen, lawyers, judges, and politicians. Although African Americans protested their rapidly deepening exclusion from public life; violence, intimidation, and lynching by terrorist groups effectively silenced most protests. Southern governments began passing laws to limit the rights of African Americans guaranteed by the fifteenth amendments.
Democrats won control of the southern state governments. The constitutional rights gained by the “Civil War” amendments (13-15) were regularly violated by terrorist groups like the KKK (Klan) which included working class whites as well as businessmen, lawyers, judges, and politicians. Although African Americans protested their rapidly deepening exclusion from public life; violence, intimidation, and lynching by terrorist groups effectively silenced most protests. Southern governments began passing laws to limit the rights of African Americans guaranteed by the fifteenth amendments.
Early Finisher Activity: AIMS FOR RECONSTRUCTION QUIZLET