by Michael Frissore

Created on: July 28, 2008

By 1880, the Klan that was born after the Civil War had fallen. Led by the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, membership slowly began to decline. But this did not stop the poor race relations, as, across the South, laws were passed to restrict the rights of blacks everywhere. In response, Southern blacks began migrating to the North and Midwest. Meanwhile, there was also a large amount of immigrants coming from Eastern and Southern Europe. Combine this with post-World War I tensions, urbanization, and industrialization, and the melting pot that was America would soon begin to boil.

The 1915 D.W. Griffith film "The Birth of a Nation" didn't help matters any. With its glorification of the Klan, people around the country were going Klan crazy. At the film's premier in Atlanta, members rode around the theater in celebration. Even President Woodrow Wilson was a fan of the film, saying, "It is like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." That the president's remarks, and the film itself, became very controversial didn't halt the birth of the new Klan at all.

The main difference between this Klan and the old guard was the scope on its radar. Immigrants, Catholics and Jews were just as likely to become targets of the Klan as blacks were. And after Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager in Atlanta, was accused, tried and convicted for the rape and murder of a young white gal named Mary Phagan, Southern whites were calling for blood. When Frank was given a life sentence, an unruly mob of Klansmen dragged him from his jail cell and lynched him. This mob called itself the Knights of Mary Phagan.

This new Klan, apparently a bunch of teetotalers, even targeted bootleggers during Prohibition. Branches of the Klan began appearing as far west and north as Oregon. The immigrants and Communists, be they Jewish, Catholic, or what have you, were a big thorn in the Klan's side, what with their labor unions and such. And the blacks who fought in WWI? Lynched while wearing their uniforms. During this period KKK members even torched a black school in Rhode Island. The Ku Klux Klan was nationwide, and stronger than it had been just after the Civil War. They gained political influence and everything.

But, eventually, this Klan died off too. However, with the Civil Right movement just around the corner, they would be back.

I don't mean that in a "Yippee!" kind of way. To hell with the Klan. They suck. I hate them. Just want to say that.

Learn more about this author, Michael Frissore.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.