In the 1920's, a preacher murdered a Catholic priest for wedding his daughter to a Puerto Rican man. During any other time in history, this preacher would be charged, tried, and convicted of such an irrational crime. However, he was acquitted. The crimes of the man went un-judged and practically unnoticed. He had killed a man. However, there was one aspect of the man's life that "redeemed" him to his innocence. He belonged to the Second Ku Klux Klan.
             The Second Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1915 by William Simmons and fifteen of his followers. This rebirth of white supremacy was formed as a reaction to recent growth in immigration, and the rights that were given to blacks during WWI. The idea was a success, and quickly developed into a group of over 100,000 men by 1921. They established a political presence when members were elected as state officials in Texas, Oklahoma, Maine, Oregon, and Indiana. By 1925, the Ku Klux Klan had become a prominent force in the United States and increased to a size of more than four million people. With these key factors in place, it seems as though the Ku Klux Klan may have been virtually unstoppable. However, in the 1930's the clan population had reduced to the thousands. Then, in 1944, the clan disassembled altogether. How could an organization with that much power simply cease to exist? Only through a series of complex events did the Second Ku Klux Klan end. The collapse of the Ku Klux Klan occurred because of the corruption of its leaders, the volatility of its people, and the actions of the U.S. government.
             The downfall of the Klan was largely due to a corruption in leadership. The group had been founded with ideas of white supremacy and maintaining a moral code among Americans, but it was soon warped into something much worse than its intentions. Many of the leaders were only in the Klan to gain the money and power that it offered. Tempted b...