"The Ku Klux Klan in the City"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the way the second Klan movement captured political power in urban centers in the South and the North as portrayed in Kenneth T. Jackson's book, "The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930". The book dispels many of the stereotypes of the Klan as a rural, Southern movement. The author points out that as the Klan grew in prominence it moved into new areas. In the South, it moved into areas such as Knoxville and Dallas. In the North, it expanded into Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis, a city which became the center of Klan activity. The Klan also moved west into California, Portland, and Denver. The paper states that, according to Jackson, the Klan's weakness in the political sphere can be largely attributed to its association with racism and intolerance because the Klan found ample opportunity to denounce Catholicism, integration, Judaism, immigration and internationalism as threats to traditional American values.

From the Paper:

"The Ku Klux Klan had a number of strengths and weaknesses in the political sphere. In the south, the Klan held a fair amount of power, even from the late 1910s, and many of its actions were public. In 1918 the Klan played a role in stopping a strike in the shipyards of Mobile by abducting a labor leader and threatening others. A similar scene played out in Birmingham at about the same time. The Klan's defiant stance against criminal elements in Birmingham carried a great deal of political clout in the south. In Nashville, a local police chief advised authorities to start a Klavern in order to help reduce crime in the area. The Klan even participated in a confederate reunion in Atlanta."

More papers on "The Ku Klux Klan in the City":

• Argumentative Essay # 90561 : "The Ku Klux Klan: A Defunct American Terrorist Group"
• Analytical Essay # 138903 : "The Ku Klux Klan: Beliefs and Philosophy"
• Analytical Essay # 88630 : "The Ku Klux Klan: An Analysis of White Supremacy"

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