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The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]].  It was founded in 1866 by members of the [[Democrat Party]] to inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans.<ref>http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan</ref>  One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Attempts were made to break up the Klan by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act).  

The first KKK was an movement of white Southerners who opposed [[Reconstruction]].  It was founded in 1866 by members of the [[Democrat Party]] to inflicting violence against black leaders and white Republicans.<ref>http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan</ref>  One of the founders, and the first "Grand Wizard," was former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Attempts were made to break up the Klan by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] and the U.S. Army using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act).  

Republicans stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats.  This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the [[Ku Klux Klan]] to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.  

Republicans stripped [[white]] [[male]]s who engaged in rebellion against the [[United States]] of the [[vote]], and gave it to Blacks. Newly freed Blacks held local, state and federal elected and non-elected positions as Republicans. The white males who were deprived of the vote were also barred from holding any civil service position and were universally Democrats.  This disenfranchisement created enormous resentment among Democrats, so they formed the Ku Klux Klan to engage in voter intimidation and suppression.  

[[Image:Artoon.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democrat Party as continuations of the Confederacy]]

[[Image:Artoon.jpg|left|200px|thumb|A political cartoon depicting the KKK and the Democrat Party as continuations of the Confederacy]]

By 1876, the situation had become ungovernable for Republicans.<ref><small>"the Compromise of 1877, which resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876 by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (who had lost the popular vote) in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South after the Civil War (which benefited Democrats, who wished to end Reconstruction and return white supremacy to southern state governments)."</small> [https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/gilded-age/a/gilded-age-politics-patronage Gilded Age politics: patronage]. khanacademy.org</ref> The Republicans had been able to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which guaranteed Blacks basic equality and civil rights, but eventually had to declare an amnesty for whites who engaged in rebellion. Reconstruction ended, and Republicans withdrew from [[social engineering]] which had divided the country so deeply and stirred up such bitterness and hatred among Democrats toward both Blacks and Republicans. Reconstruction earned Republicans the undying [[hatred]] of Democrats.<ref>See for example [https://youtu.be/-yY7g2jOquM James O'Keefe debate with Hairy Hillbilly Hippie] for an example of a partisan Democrat who votes against his own economic interests.</ref><ref>See excerpt from [[Dinesh D'Souza]]'s, ''[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dinesh-dsouza-the-secret-history-of-the-democratic-party Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party]'', Regnery Publishing, July 18, 2016.</ref>

By 1876, the situation had become ungovernable for Republicans.<ref><small>"the Compromise of 1877, which resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876 by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (who had lost the popular vote) in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South after the Civil War (which benefited Democrats, who wished to end Reconstruction and return white supremacy to southern state governments)."</small> [https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/gilded-age/a/gilded-age-politics-patronage Gilded Age politics: patronage]. khanacademy.org</ref> The Republicans had been able to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments which guaranteed Blacks basic equality and civil rights, but eventually had to declare an amnesty for whites who engaged in rebellion. Reconstruction ended, and Republicans withdrew from [[social engineering]] which had divided the country so deeply and stirred up such bitterness and hatred among Democrats toward both Blacks and Republicans. Reconstruction earned Republicans the undying [[hatred]] of Democrats.<ref>See for example [https://youtu.be/-yY7g2jOquM James O'Keefe debate with Hairy Hillbilly Hippie] for an example of a partisan Democrat who votes against his own economic interests.</ref><ref>See excerpt from [[Dinesh D'Souza]]'s, ''[https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dinesh-dsouza-the-secret-history-of-the-democratic-party Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party]'', Regnery Publishing, July 18, 2016.</ref>

The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters.  There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions.  It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests.  The current Klan presents itself as a "Christian" organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters.  There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions.  It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests.  The current Klan presents itself as a "Christian" organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|left|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]

[[File:KKKrally1946.JPG|left|300px|thumb|Ku Klux Klan rally, unknown location, August, 1951]]

Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of Exalted Cyclops for his inborn leadership skills.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of Exalted Cyclops for his inborn leadership skills.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ronald Reagan]] starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref>See [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]

[[File:RR-KKK.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ronald Reagan]] starred as the crusading district attorney battling the Klan in this 1951 film.<ref>See [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044075/usercomments analysis of film]</ref>]]

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight: {{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} Bilbo  told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in a 1949 interview: {{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}  

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight: {{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} Bilbo  told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in a 1949 interview: {{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}  

By the 1990s there were fewer than 10,000 members of the Klan.  Many so-called "chapters" or "hate groups," as measured by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]'s newsletter ''Klanwatch'', consisted of a single individual.  The threat emanating from the Klan was often exaggerated to serve as a fundraising tool for anti-racist watchdog organizations.  Chat rooms and discussion boards were set up by anti-racist watchdog groups in the hopes of baiting in a young person to identify who may be susceptible to extremist recruiting.  These chat rooms and discussion groups also served the dual purpose of making the Klan threat  appear larger than it actually was for fundraising purposes.

By the 1990s there were fewer than 10,000 members of the Klan.  Many so-called "chapters" or "hate groups," as measured by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]'s newsletter ''Klanwatch'', consisted of a single individual.  The threat emanating from the Klan was often exaggerated to serve as a fundraising tool for anti-racist watchdog organizations.  Chat rooms and discussion boards were set up by anti-racist watchdog groups in the hopes of baiting in a young person to identify who may be susceptible to extremist recruiting.  These chat rooms and discussion groups also served the dual purpose of making the Klan threat  appear larger than it actually was for fundraising purposes.

[[File:Blmhillary (1).jpg|left|350px|thumb|The teaching of [[Black history]] has led to a new appreciation of the Democratic party's role in relationship to Blacks.]]

[[File:Blmhillary (1).jpg|left|350px|thumb|The teaching of [[Black history]] has led to a new appreciation of the Democratic party's role in relationship to Blacks.]]

During the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]], the KKK (along with former Klansman [[David Duke]]), in possible [[collusion]] with the Democrat Party, pretended to "support" [[Donald Trump]] for President as part of a strategy to discredit Trump and make sure he would lose the election by making a false connection between the KKK and the Republicans (as the Democrats have done since 1964<ref>[http://www.blackandblondemedia.com/2009/01/14/democrat-race-lie/ The Democrat Race Lie] at Black & Right</ref>).  However, because the Republicans have always opposed the KKK and despise what it stands for,<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2016/07/the-ugly-history-of-democratic-suppression-of-blacks/ The Ugly History of Democratic Suppression of Blacks] at WND</ref> and because the Democrat-KKK connection is public knowledge despite the efforts of Democrats and liberals (particularly in the [[mainstream media]]) to bury and deny this historic fact,<ref>[http://blackrepublican.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-ku-klux-klan-was-terrorist-arm-of_56.html The Ku Klux Klan was the Terrorist Arm of the Democrat Party]</ref> the KKK scheme to try to discredit Trump by publicly pretending to endorse him backfired as he rejected the "endorsement" and the public saw through the KKK's ruse, leading KKK Grand Dragon Will Quigg, who formerly pretended to support Trump, to show his and his organization's true colors, and those of the Democrats, by now publicly supporting Democrat nominee [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/ku-klux-klan-grand-dragon-will-quigg-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Will Quigg Endorses Hillary Clinton for President] at U.S. News & World Report</ref> Hillary, who has [[Hillary Rodham Clinton#Racism|her own history of racism]] and whose mentor, late Democrat senator Robert Byrd, was himself a longtime KKK member,<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref> did not reject the KKK's campaign endorsement of her, which was one of the contributing factors toward her downfall in the election as Trump won the presidency, ultimately making the Democrat-KKK scheme against him fruitless.  In multiple [[George Soros]] funded protests against Trump, many liberals dressed themselves in KKK robes and pretended to "support" Trump, holding signs that said "KKK wants Trump" and "Make America White Again" while the DNC created an attack ad claiming that the KKK is "actively supporting" Trump.<ref>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOYADCDSyY</ref>

During the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]], the KKK (along with former Klansman [[David Duke]]), in possible [[collusion]] with the Democrat Party, pretended to "support" [[Donald Trump]] for President as part of a strategy to discredit Trump and make sure he would lose the election by making a false connection between the KKK and the Republicans (as the Democrats have done since 1964<ref>[http://www.blackandblondemedia.com/2009/01/14/democrat-race-lie/ The Democrat Race Lie] at Black & Right</ref>).  However, because the Republicans have always opposed the KKK and despise what it stands for,<ref>[https://www.wnd.com/2016/07/the-ugly-history-of-democratic-suppression-of-blacks/ The Ugly History of Democratic Suppression of Blacks] at WND</ref> and because the Democrat-KKK connection is public knowledge despite the efforts of Democrats and liberals (particularly in the [[mainstream media]]) to bury and deny this historic fact,<ref>[http://blackrepublican.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-ku-klux-klan-was-terrorist-arm-of_56.html The Ku Klux Klan was the Terrorist Arm of the Democrat Party]</ref> the KKK scheme to try to discredit Trump by publicly pretending to endorse him backfired as he rejected the "endorsement" and the public saw through the KKK's ruse, leading KKK Grand Dragon Will Quigg, who formerly pretended to support Trump, to show his and his organization's true colors, and those of the Democrats, by now publicly supporting Democrat nominee [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/ku-klux-klan-grand-dragon-will-quigg-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Will Quigg Endorses Hillary Clinton for President] at U.S. News & World Report</ref> Hillary, who has [[Hillary Rodham Clinton#Racism|her own history of racism]] and whose mentor, late Democrat senator Robert Byrd, was himself a longtime KKK member,<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> did not reject the KKK's campaign endorsement of her, which was one of the contributing factors toward her downfall in the election as Trump won the presidency, ultimately making the Democrat-KKK scheme against him fruitless.  In multiple [[George Soros]] funded protests against Trump, many liberals dressed themselves in KKK robes and pretended to "support" Trump, holding signs that said "KKK wants Trump" and "Make America White Again" while the DNC created an attack ad claiming that the KKK is "actively supporting" Trump.<ref>https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOYADCDSyY</ref>

==Bibliography==

==Bibliography==

* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001.  16(1):1-30.

* McVeigh, Rory. “Power Devaluation, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic National Convention of 1924.” ''Sociological Forum'' 2001.  16(1):1-30.

* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]

* Moore, Leonard J. ''Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921-1928'' (1991). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/citizen-klansmen-the-ku-klux-klan-in-indiana-1921-1928-by-leonard-j-moore.jsp online edition]

* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811-36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]

* Parsons, Elaine Frantz, "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan." ''The Journal of American History'' 92.3 (2005): 811–36. [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.3/parsons.html in History Cooperative]

* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].

* Pegram, Thomas R. "Hoodwinked: The Anti-Saloon League and the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Prohibition Enforcement." ''Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive era'' 7.1 (2008): [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jga/7.1/pegram.html online].

* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)

* Rhodes, James Ford. ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Volume: 7.'' (1920)

==Critical external links==

==Critical external links==

* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan {{dead link}}

* [http://reactor-core.org/original-kkk.html The History of the Original Ku Klux Klan] - by an anonymous author sympathetic to the original Klan {{dead link}}

* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735-748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.  

* W. S. Simkins, "Why the Ku Klux," 4 ''The Alcalde'' (June 1916): 735–748. [http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/simkins.html online]; Simkins (1842-1929) was an organizer of the KKK in Florida in 1868, and a law professor when he wrote this memoir.  

* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]  

* [http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixA.htm Full text of the Klan Act of 1871]  

**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version]

**[http://education.harpweek.com/KKKHearings/AppendixB.htm simplified version]