The Internal Chaos - Research Paper Example

? Ku Klux Klan: The Internal Chaos By (Module and number) Ku Klux Klan: The Internal Chaos Society is vitalin everyday life as people need interaction to live. Structures, hierarchies and patterns exist as people tend to categorize for easier understanding that sometimes gives birth to discrimination. In discrimination, superiority and inferiority both exist and conflicts arise as people make efforts to fight for their rights. Their efforts toward equality undergo several changes throughout history across the globe. As efforts for equality are pursued, war is inevitable. War cannot be removed from history as groups of people used it to resolve conflicts and advance their personal motives. Usually politicians do not picture the real image of war as they depict young heroes marching, bringing peace around the globe and winning fights at the battlegrounds. The image of war described was just the cover-up after a war as the actual war brings heavy damages to various places and large casualties incurred. People suffer especially the young ones that lose their childhood and open up their minds to dirty games played. They get permanent psychological scars from war as they see people dying around them especially losing their loved ones. Children learn from what they see and the surroundings teach them to kill their fellowmen. Hatred surrounds the people and the real peace would be far away. Human beings die before their natural death and separation of families are rampant. Career ends happen everywhere and hard-earned properties being blown-up in an instant occur. The leaders suppress the freedom of people and critics are sent to jail and executed. Slavery happens as young men are required to serve the army. People are even happy when enemy pilots, sailors and army men are killed during the battle as they feel the justice is served in the deaths of their enemies. The big problem is the deaths of innocents happen as war does not exempt anyone and spare their lives. Lies are rampant especially among the leaders and nobody can rely on the media for the truth. War tolerates the worst of the crimes as other political crimes like favoritism, graft and corruption to be small-time. The government plays in foreign relations is not to win the war but to ensure that certain people run other nations and to make the places safer. The workings of the military and the government are to protect the nation from outside attack, secure the places for a life with freedom, and give the ignorance on who are on the right and wrong sides in wars. The real safety will not be achieved fully through sending military volunteers abroad and making treaties with other governments. The real peace and war avoidance lies in the hands of the individuals without relying to the governmental efforts.1 Objective of the Study For the purpose of the study, the focus would be on the American Civil War and the Ku Klux Klan as the history recorded evidences regarding both the event and the group itself. Several discriminations existed as conflicts arose during the Civil War and thorough understanding on the history of both the war and the group would be compared as they coexisted and affected the lives of people in America. Background Information Throughout the history of United States of America, the American Civil War was considered the most expensive war recorded on history of the nation. The battles separated the nation into half and the country received 600,000 deaths and 1,000,000 casualties. The winners were just the few who survived the series of armed fights. The survival of the fittest was inevitable in the Civil War. The devastating effects did not only happen in USA but also felt in the neighboring countries. The war happened as efforts were made to abolish slavery.2 The war started during the time of Abraham Lincoln on April 12, 1861 as the military and the Confederates had an encounter battle in South Carolina. In response to the first encounter battle, Lincoln made a volunteer army to free people from slavery. Both the government and the Confederated created their own armies as the war progressed. During the battle in Maryland, the Confederates were defeated at the so-called Battle of Antietam dated September 1862.3 After such war, the Emancipation Proclamation was released that officially designated slavery as the main war objective.4 The causes of the civil war were the following: sectionalism, slavery, rights of States, slave power, nationalism, and battle of Fort Sumter and election of Lincoln. The North and South of USA had differences in social structure, culture and economies that caused the civil war to sprout. The differences happened as the North focused on progressive and modernized farms as the South continued to rely on slavery.5 The removal of slavery caused a great deal of fear in the South as slave revolts.6 In that case, the government made movements in stopping the spread of slavery. The Ku Klux Klan The war ended and Ku Klux Klan existed as the members suppressed the Black through murders and terror. Ku Klux Klan became famous through history due to various reasons as they were dreaded by people especially the Blacks. They were also considered as a secret society as they did not reveal their secret initiations and other motives behind the true existence of their organization. The major focus of the paper is on the existence of Ku Klux Klan as they increased the discrimination on Blacks as they flourished after the Civil War. The Civil War ended and the Southern Whites were filled with anger as the Blacks got their freedom. The freedom of Blacks in the Southern part was made through the efforts of the Northerners especially through the proclamation of Lincoln. The Northerners wanted the Southern Aristocrats to pay for the mess of war by making the former slaves as authorities in the Southern USA. The Whites there felt threatened by the proclamation and lost their manual workers for their farms. The removal of slavery led to the birth of the Ku Klux Klan in the form of guerilla group. According to historians, the name of the Klan came from the Greek term kuklos which means circle just like a circle of brothers or brotherhood. The ancestries of the members came from the Scott-Irish clans. The history of the Klan was different as the KKK (abbreviation of Ku Klux Klan) was established by the famous Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest as their first Grand Wizard. The truth is the general just accepted the offer as an honorary member and he is not the real founder. The real six men who created the Klan were not revealed as the time of that existence was very dangerous. The grave penalties were given by the Klan to the people who revealed them to the authorities. In response to the secret society being revealed, the members of the Klan wore white hoods to protect their faces from public. The Ex-general Forrest then approved of equality and he disowned KKK since he did not like violence and terror. Due to the growing violence, the former Union general Ulysses Grant waged war against KKK. Grant also made the Republican Congress pass the Ku Klux Klan Act or The Civil Rights Act of 1871 to protect the Blacks from the enraging behavior and violence. Martial Law can be declared by the Congress against the KKK if ever the Klan make any rampant violence and scare the Blacks to stop voting.7 The members of the Klan sabotaged the Reconstruction government for about three or four years. The Klan also rapidly dissolved in the history. Behind the history seen in the books, there are much more about the Klan as they gathered members from the poor and uneducated realm of the society and used personal justice and revenge as the motivation for its members. The Klan was then considered in the south as Night Patrols as they roam around riding horses to enforce curfew for the Blacks and prevent any potential Black rebellion. They existed for slavery and maintain the power among the Aristocratic Southern Whites who own the plantations and farms.8 The rapid existence of the first KKK can be traced by discussing the detailed start of the organization. As the paragraph in page five indicated, there were main six founders of KKK. They were college students from Pulaski, Tennessee who organized as a social club. They created it between December 1866 and the summer of the succeeding year. They were former Confederate officials who had horseplay as their leisure. They liked to ride horses wearing various costumes and later on found out that their white hooded costumes created much fear in the neighborhood. The former slaves in Southern America feared the hooded men very much that gave the six young men the idea of using the costumes as part of their social club. The six men then made a quick expansion of their group and various local charters were made in different locations. In April 1967, they had the first general meeting and the group became a formal organization. The paragraph in page five of the study also showed that the first Grand Wizard was the former Confederate General Nathan Bedfor Forrest as he got the position in the first general meeting. The umbrella organization then had smaller units that were ruled by the leaders that went by the titles of Cyclopes, Grand Dragons, Giants and Titans.9 The organization was formed to offer security and protection for the weak and innocents from the abuses and crimes of lawless people. The group also wanted to offer relief for the injured citizens and comfort the families especially the women and children of Confederate soldiers. The group attracted big people as they contended originally to protect the Constitution of United States. The role of the KKK supposedly to supplement the help that the government offered.10 The purposes sounded to be great that anyone reading those values would join them. The problematic part is the reference to oppression from the Union Army and the Southerners must be protected from the efforts of freedmen who were mostly the former Black slaves. The Southern Whites truly sensed the insecurity that they needed to make such an organization to protect their own interests. The initiation for new members includes the list of questions for membership and whether the new recruit is a member of the Reconstruction and Republican Party. He would also be asked if he is against political and social equality regarding the Blacks. They truly recruit people who like the White Supremacy and oppress the Blacks as they wanted the latter to be their slaves again. The increase in number of crimes recorded such as murders and kidnapping, the Klan was abolished in 1869 under the orders of the Grand Wizard. Despite of the abolition, the smaller units of the disbanded Klan remained active. As the people resisted the violence in the Southern America, they supported the Force Act in 1870 passed by the Congress that allowed the president to punish terrorist organizations severely. The secrecy of the existence of anti-Republican movement happened in 1870s as the Klan members experienced persecution and they gained the sympathy of Southerners. Resulting federal prosecution of Klan members, however, created widespread Southern sympathy in their behalf. The traditional White Superiority mindset went back as the sympathy grew.11 The oppression against the Blacks was rampant as the Whites under the Klan punished them. The Klan resisted the Reconstruction very much as they oppose the new social order making the Blacks their equal. The former slaves were their primary target but they also terrorized the Whites when they sympathize with the Blacks especially Northerners. The members thought that their rights were deprived, so they launched significant guerilla attacks across towns. Going back to 1869, the power was divided among factions of Klansmen as they battle for control among themselves. The increasing crimes led the prominent people to back-out from the Klan and criminals became the next leaders. The grand wizard disbanded them later on but local groups still operated in hiding.12 The oppression may have been lessened but inequalities still exist until today. Stereotyping is one of the reasons why inequality existed as hasty generalizations were done about the qualities of people. Skin color had been used for discrimination and even religious affiliation.13 The same was the mindset of the Klan as they wanted to suppress the freedom of the Blacks and prevented the Reconstruction. The belief was then still revived in another time. The Ku Klux Klan revival happened during 1915 when William J. Simmons recreated the Klan as he was influenced by the book The Ku Klux Klan made by Thomas Dixon and the film Birth of a Nation made by Griffith. The revived KKK was opposed by The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. For the growth of the revived organization, the 1920 annual conference was held in the KKK active areas. After World War I the Klan became aggressive against other races such as the Roman Catholics, socialists and Jews. In 1922 Hiram Evans was installed as the Imperial Wizard and he was able to grow the organization quickly. Four million people by the year 1925 was recorded to be part of KKK and some of them were put to jail for their crimes. The second rising then disbanded when the top leaders were convicted for their crimes. 14 Going back to the First Ku Klux Klan, the decline of KKK happened when the leaders decided to disband the group, but the smaller units were autonomous that led continuous operations despite of the abolition of the whole organization. The smaller units were the ones responsible for the whipping and terrorism as they did not follow the original noble goals of the Klan. The abolition decision of the leaders was not a quick fix solution to the abuses done by most of the members. Because of the prevalent misbehaviors, KKK had been branded as licensed criminals. Some officials had done some movements in controlling the abuses of the Klan like the politician Gov. William Holden of North Carolina as he used the state army to immobilize the clan, but he was then removed from his position. Gov. Holden made use of black army men that led to race battle and he lost his governor position. Some politicians especially the Democrats was skeptic about the existence of Ku Klux Klan as the group might have been created by Southern Republican politicians. In response to the skepticism, Pennsylvania Republican senator John Scott had a committee examine the 52 witnesses who gave testimonies about the existence and abuses of KKK. Years after the existence of KKK, the Supreme Court battles against Harris regarding the Klan Act as it was somewhat unconstitutional and could not encompass private groups.15 After the second revival of the Klan died, several attempts then were done. German and other alliances before the war dared to revive the Klan but was not successful. The last biggest recognized wizard was Dr. Samuel Green who died in 1949. In the 1950s and 1960s many attempts existed to revive the Klan again but were unsuccessful as local groups did not pledge allegiance. As FBI made efforts to prevent any potential organizations to become threat to the nation, no Klan became successful. In the modern world, some Klan groups blended with the Christian beliefs as they were assisted by the government and despised the “New World Order”. Despite of the camouflages and changes, they still despised the African-Americans as they became parasites of the Whites. 16 The KKK could not deny their racist schemes whatever they do as they are not the only group that exhibited racism throughout the history. Racism allows the discriminate treatment for varying races or groups of people usually determined by physical features and culture. Hatred revolves around racism as people are reduced to mere animals. Legalities, wars, nations and slavery are all affected by the racist mindset. Throughout history, the Westerners versus the Non-Westerner races involved the bullying and discrimination. Slavery pictured out the best sample of widely-used form of racism by the West especially towards the Africans. The prevailing belief showed how the Blacks were viewed as less human than the Whites and compared to animals.17 The Africans or the Blacks were not originally labeled as inferior to Whites. The Portuguese voyagers during the 15th centuries traveled and conquered other lands for the expansions of their empires. Because they considered the Africans to be a serious threat, the Whites forcibly removed the Africans from their homelands as the latter could not match the technology of the Portuguese. The Africans were forced to work for them in the Atlantic with little or no pay and were treated as savages. Slave trade became prominent in the Western Culture and people tend to generalize that all Africans were the same. Individuality was not considered and the rights were violated. Meanwhile the Whites enjoyed the wealth that the slaves brought to their businesses as money came pouring in. The Blacks were not compensated for their hard work.18 The discrimination was rampant as money and all the rights were imbalance. The Whites received more than they need and the Blacks were deprived of almost everything. The Ku Klux Klan did not just originate from itself but their underlying beliefs can be traced back in history of African slave trade. The slavery in Africa was practiced since the ancient times and it was also called compulsory human servitude. The famous form of slavery was in the form of racism: a superior group abusing the inferior group just like the slavery before the occurrence of American Civil War. In reality, other forms of slavery were practiced especially in Africa where the slaves were properties of the masters. Some other cultures labeled the slaves as more than properties as they could include them as part of the head families. Other cultures are even fascinating as they allow the slaves to have powers like being part of the military or as a government head of the race. In the usual sense, both the masters and the slaves were black Africans coming from different tribes especially during the lost in tribal battles. The slaves were bought by their owners for their domestic services.19 The existence of slavery was not limited to the traditional image as linked to racism. Tribes also practiced slavery as buying and having own servants and slaves showed the power and superiority a man had during the ancient times especially in Africa. Slaves were lucky enough if the culture and their masters permit them to be part of the family, but unfortunate for those who were sold to masters while being labeled as properties. Being labeled as mere property degraded the persona of the slave as he was compared to nothing but an object even below the ranks of animals. Two groups of slave traders came to Africa: Arab Muslims and the Westerners. For about 14 centuries, Arab Muslims traded African slaves for money as they visited the Western and Eastern parts of Africa. Their loyal customers came from Asia and North Africa. On the other hand, The Westerners involved themselves with slave trade sold them to European and American wealthy people. The two races that made big money from slave trade contributed affected the African economies greatly as they scared off most of the Africans.20 Almost no people would like to be enslaved and brought to a faraway place. On top of that, no one would like somebody to take over his life as he was ordered to do jobs that he did not like. Clearly, slavery abused people and did not give them the equal rights that they could have gotten although some enslavement allowed the slaves to access some powers. The slave system would give a great image on the reason for the existence of slavery and why the Whites engaged in slave trade as recorded by history. The basic argument of the Whites way back in history was to have ample supply of manpower for their fields (as the wealthy people in the ancient times owned farms and fields). The slaves were then provided with the basic needs like food, shelter and clothing but much less than the benefits of factory workers of today. Their rationed foods were not enough to last for one week, so they needed to grow crops or raise animals for extra food. Their houses were very small with almost no furniture and any door and window covers. The slaves were paid very little even to the point of no pay at all and they can be fired anytime. On top of that, the sick and the old were abandoned and heavy punishments await those who do not conform to the rules of the master. Heavy whippings were given to them for discipline and performance improvement. The system was barbaric. No freedom was provided for the slaves. In that system, more than half of them worked in farms for a little less than 20 hours each day. Women usually worked as maids and cooks for their masters.21 The system was crude that some slaves preferred to revolt and escape the gruesome system they were locked in. They wanted to experience freedom, but working under their masters just suppressed them from being humans as their masters gave them no fair treatment. The same system happened before the American Civil War that led to the rise and fall of Ku Klux Klan. The wealthy thought that freedom and equality could destroy their wealth as their former slaves slowly became “human” right at their very own eyes. The slave system seemed to extend to the abuses and violence employed by the members of the Klan. The original top leaders in the Klan did not like violence as they tended to disband the big organization. The rise and fall of Ku Klux can be said to be attributed to the human nature of hunger for power as the noble goals were dimmed to be forgotten by the members as they turned to violence to maintain power. The slaves had been freed from slavery physically, but the actions done by the KKK had impacted the people psychologically as White Supremacy prevailed in the minds of the citizens. 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