‘In the years 1865–77, it was the violent activities of white supremacist
groups that had the most damaging impact on the civil rights of black
Americans in the South.’ How far do you agree with this statement?
Introduction:
By 1877 at the end of the Reconstruction period several factors had had a damaging
impact on the civil rights of black Americans in the South, but most importantly
among them was the actions of White Supremacist groups such as the KKK as well as
the White League. Additional factors also contributed to this loss of civil rights
however, as the role played by Southern Democrats in creating De Jure segregation
at both the state and federal level was important, and the economic weakness of
former slaves during the period was also an important factor. Furthermore, the
actions of white supremacists were restricted part way through the period by the
KKK act. To judge the relative importance of each factor we must take into
consideration both the political and socio-economic importance that it had.
KKK
The formation of the KKK and the de facto segregation it created had a damaging
effect on the Civil Rights of black Americans in the South due to their actions across
the South. The KKK had over 500,000 members across the South by 1870, and their
use of methods such as lynching and terrorism targeted against people and
institutions integral to the advancement of Black civil rights was central to the
worsening of Civil Rights in the Reconstruction period. The KKK attacked black
schools, churches and officials, who had been very important to the black
advancement and provided over 25% of officials, as well as encouraging voting,
political education as well as doubling black literacy rates during reconstruction. The
KKK destroyed 25 schools and killed 50 teachers in Mississippi in response to state
legislature promoting black education. This negatively affected blacks’ socio-
economic status.
The violence used by white supremacists in the form of lynchings intimidated blacks
and prevented them gaining any strength in numbers. The KKK lynched over 1678
blacks in the 1870s and the true extent of the lynching can be demonstrated by the
fact that thousands of KKK members were indicted for lynching in the 1870s. The
KKK also attacked government institutions such as a county jail in South Carolina,
where 8 blacks were killed.
• The Ku Klux Klan developed into a major terror organisation, carrying out burnings,
beatings and lynching against black Americans in the South
Enforcement Acts
The limited impact of the KKK and other groups after the Enforcement Acts in 1870-
71 and the KKK act does limit the effect on the Civil Rights of blacks during the
period. President Grant was given the power to crush the KKK and violence by the
Klan almost completely stopped after this, and several of the leaders of the Klan
were arrested and tried for their crimes. The acts also protected all of the rights
given to blacks under the 13th ,14th and 15th amendments which had been introduced
in the period of 1865-70.
, The incidence of lynching black Americans declined rapidly after the federal
government passed the KKK Act of 1871, which allowed southern governments to
introduce martial law in counties where they deemed white terror groups were
active.
• The 1871 Enforcement Act (aka Ku Klux Klan Act) severely restricted the
effectiveness of the Klan’s tactics of intimidation
The 1870 Enforcement Act placed penalties against anyone who interfered with a
citizen, either black or white. A second Enforcement Act placed the election of
congressmen under the surveillance of federal election officials, and the 1871 Third
Enforcement Act (also known as the KKK Act) gave federal troops the power to
suspend habeas corpus and arrest suspected KKK members. It also outlawed
activities closely associated with KKK activity, such as forming secret conspiracies,
wearing disguises and intimidating officials. President Ulysses Grant used the Act, in
October 1871, to declare martial law in nine counties of western South Carolina,
which led to mass prosecutions. These acts helped to break the back of most of the
terror activities of the KKK and other white supremacist groups.
However, the decline in violence after 1871 was due in part to the Enforcement acts,
but also to the fact that the Democrat Party, which opposed Reconstruction, had
taken control of most Southern states by 1875. To the white southerners, these
states had been ‘redeemed’.
Other White supremacist groups
However, there were many other white supremacist groups, and there impact can
be also seen after these acts, diminishing their significance.
White League intimidation damaged black civil rights in Louisiana from 1874. It was
responsible for the most violent racism, e.g. the Coushatta massacre, during which
five black Americans were murdered
The Knights of the White Camellia launched hundreds of attacks on the newly won
black civil rights, including murder. Theirs was the biggest single atrocity, killing 280
black Americans in Louisiana in 1873
Another important white supremacist, paramilitary group was the White League.
This was formed in March 1874 in Louisiana. Perhaps the most notorious act
attributed to the White League was the Coushatta massacre, which occurred in
August 1874. It was sparked off by a dispute between the White League and
Marshall Twitchell, a northern carpetbagger who had become a Louisiana state
senator. Members of the White League forced six Republican Party officials to resign
and then murdered them, along with five black Americans
A month later, on 14th September 1874, the White League achieved its greatest
triumph in what became known as the Battle of Liberty Place. The opportunity arose
when President Grant removed most federal troops from Louisiana because of an
outbreak of yellow fever. The white league assembled in New Orleans, and
demanded the resignation of the governor, William Kellogg, and his replacement by
John McEnery, a Democrat. In a fracas, 5,000 members of the White League routed
3,500 members of the New Orleans Metropolitan Police and ousted the Republican
governor.
Another incident, attributed to the Knights of the White Camellia, led to the single
biggest loss of life of black Americans during Reconstruction. In 1873, in Colfax,
