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The Klan's Influence and Growth

The Klan's Influence and Growth. We will be exploring the growth and the influence of the KKK in the 1920s. Early 1920s Klan was treated by many people in the big cities as a joke. HOWEVER…. By mid 1920s it was a powerful organisation with around 5,000,000 members.

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The Klan's Influence and Growth

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  1. The Klan's Influence and Growth We will be exploring the growth and the influence of the KKK in the 1920s.

  2. Early 1920s Klan was treated by many people in the big cities as a joke HOWEVER… By mid 1920s it was a powerful organisation with around 5,000,000 members Hundreds of people in the big cities had never seen a Klansman and they thought the KKK could be ignored or treated as a few nuts who dressed up. But once we saw 40,000 of the Klan marching through our capital, well, nobody laughed anymore.

  3. Copy and complete this spider diagram in your jotter. Why did the Klan grow in the 1920s? You must complete SEVEN main branches of this diagram.

  4. Why did the Klan grow in influence the 1920s? 1922: New Leader Hiram Evans became leader (Imperial Wizard). Under his leadership it grew in size and influence.

  5. Growth in membership: By 1924 it had nearly 5 million members (but nobody knew exactly how strong it was because it was a secret organisation).

  6. One of the main reasons for the growth was the appeal the Klan had for many • Appealed those who were… • Anti-Black • Anti-Catholic • Anti-Jewish • Anti-immigration

  7. Appealed to those who: • Lacked education and were ignorant

  8. Appealed to those who… • Felt they were protecting ‘America’ • Were attracted by the Klan’s image of racial violence

  9. Appealed to those who… • Wished to remain anonymous (white hoods)

  10. Appealed to those who believed Immigrants and Blacks were a threat to… • Jobs • Housing • Protestant faith and American way of life

  11. Describe the reasons for the growth in the KKK during the 1920s. 5 marks

  12. Why was the Klan not stopped? • Police were bribed • Local officials were bribed • People were blackmailed into ignoring it

  13. Why was the Klan not stopped? • Many powerful people in the south were members of the Klan. • e.g. state officials, policemen • Klansmen were elected to positions of political power.

  14. Half the town belonged to the Klan when I was a boy. Most of the police were members. On nights when the Klan had its meetings there were no policemen around but instead Klansmen worked as traffic patrolmen. It always puzzled me as a boy that the Klan patrolman was exactly the same shape and size as our local police patrolman. Adapted from the memories of Robert Coughlan, a Catholic boy in 1924

  15. Why was the Klan not stopped? • Threats were made to members who tried to leave. • Threats were made to those who tried to stop its actions.

  16. Why was the Klan not stopped? • On the rare occasions that Klansmen were arrested for serious crimes they were unlikely to be convicted by local Southern juries.

  17. How useful is Source A as an explanation for why the Klan was not stopped. 4 marks Source A is an extract from History of the Klan, 1999. In Colorado the Klan elected a governor of the State, several judges and even the Denver chief of police. In one county of Alabama the Klan controlled judges, sheriffs and lawyers.

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