Ku Klux Klan is the name mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a
             part in American history, although other less important groups have also used the
             name. The first Ku Klux Klan was an organisation that thrived in the South during the
             Reconstruction period following the Civil War. The second was a nation-wide
             organisation that flourished after World War I. Subsequent groups calling themselves
             the Ku Klux Klan sprang up in much of the South after World War II and in response
             to civil-rights activity during the 1960s.
             The Ku Klux Klan was formed as a social club by a group of Confederate
             Army veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee around 1865. The Ku Klux Klan was not started
             because of racial animosity nor did they have any political motivation, they just
             dressed in their white sheets and pillow covers and played pranks during the night.
             The group adopted the name Ku Klux Klan from the Greek word kuklos, meaning
             circle, and the English word clan. In 1867, the Ku Klux Klan began to focus on
             racism. It was at this time that a Confederate General, Nathan Bedford Forest, took
             charge and was named the first Imperial Wizard. Under the leadership of Forest, the
             Klan began terrorising the South, with their prime target being African Americans and
             black supporters. They also targeted white Southern Republicans and the school
             teachers who worked with African Americans.
             White superiority was the philosophy of the Klan, and they would often use
             violence and terrorisation of blacks as a means of exercising this philosophised
             superiority. The Klan detested the idea of blacks gaining any rights following the
             Civil War into the Reconstruction, and terrorised blacks to prevent them from voting
             in elections or practising any other right. Blacks and white sympathisers were often
             threatened, beaten, or even murdered by Klan members in the South; the Klan used
             the now familiar white robes and ho...