As old and long time member as Byrd was, I don't think he was a member at the founding following the "War Between the States" Originally Posted by chefnerd
As old and long time member as Byrd was, I don't think he was a member at the founding following the "War Between the States" Originally Posted by chefnerdYou need to refresh yourself with american history and what party freed the slaves and and help them during reconstruction when the other part not so much...
These sorts of comparisons are unfortunately as common as they are inaccurate.This guy is one of those that..."you can't handle the truth"
The KKK was founded in Tennessee immediately after the end of the Civil War as a sort of social club for former Confederate Soldiers whose influence quickly spread through the decimated Southern states. As Columbia professor Eric Foner wrote in his A Short History of Reconstruction, in its early days, the group was loosely bound by one main principle: launching a reign of terror against Republican leaders black and white.
Racism was, of course, a guiding principle, but not quite as guiding as the hatred of the Republicans, the party of Lincoln, the Yankees who early Klansmen believed destroyed their homeland through what they termed a “war of northern aggression.”
The Republican Party had been founded in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin just 12 years earlier, and Lincoln was its first president. The Klan saw both as just as big a menace as the newly freed slaves. Less than a year after Lincoln’s assassination, the Klan’s anti-Republican ideology spread rapidly.
Dr. Foner wrote:
In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class, and all those who desired the restoration of white supremacy. It aimed to destroy the Republican party’s infrastructure, undermine the Reconstruction state, reestablish control of the black labor force, and restore racial subordination in every aspect of Southern life.
In 1868, the Klan elected its first Grand Wizard, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. Decades later, his grandson wrote in the September 1928 issue of the Klan’s Kourier Magazine:
I have never voted for any man who was not a regular Democrat. My father … never voted for any man who was not a Democrat. My grandfather was …the head of the Ku Klux Klan in reconstruction days…. My great-grandfather was a life-long Democrat…. My great-great-grandfather was…one of the founders of the Democratic party. Originally Posted by Hotrod511
These sorts of comparisons are unfortunately as common as they are inaccurate.
The KKK was founded in Tennessee immediately after the end of the Civil War as a sort of social club for former Confederate Soldiers whose influence quickly spread through the decimated Southern states. As Columbia professor Eric Foner wrote in his A Short History of Reconstruction, in its early days, the group was loosely bound by one main principle: launching a reign of terror against Republican leaders black and white.
Racism was, of course, a guiding principle, but not quite as guiding as the hatred of the Republicans, the party of Lincoln, the Yankees who early Klansmen believed destroyed their homeland through what they termed a “war of northern aggression.”
The Republican Party had been founded in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin just 12 years earlier, and Lincoln was its first president. The Klan saw both as just as big a menace as the newly freed slaves. Less than a year after Lincoln’s assassination, the Klan’s anti-Republican ideology spread rapidly.
Dr. Foner wrote:
In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class, and all those who desired the restoration of white supremacy. It aimed to destroy the Republican party’s infrastructure, undermine the Reconstruction state, reestablish control of the black labor force, and restore racial subordination in every aspect of Southern life.
In 1868, the Klan elected its first Grand Wizard, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest. Decades later, his grandson wrote in the September 1928 issue of the Klan’s Kourier Magazine:
I have never voted for any man who was not a regular Democrat. My father … never voted for any man who was not a Democrat. My grandfather was …the head of the Ku Klux Klan in reconstruction days…. My great-grandfather was a life-long Democrat…. My great-great-grandfather was…one of the founders of the Democratic party. Originally Posted by Hotrod511
Correct, however what you seem to forget is the fact that the Klan was founded and perpetuated by CONSERVATIVES. Originally Posted by chefnerdI think you are confused with the conservatives of today and the CONSERVATIVES of the 1800's I don't recall any of that being in the history I have read
Well tell us what you know then Dilbert Originally Posted by Hotrod5111st Klan was formed in 1868 - 1888. Feds cracked down hard on these guys and this was before the supreme court made the law against klan activity unconstitutional. (this is why we don't go after communists)
I think you are confused with the conservatives of today and the CONSERVATIVES of the 1800's I don't recall any of that being in the history I have readCorrect, because at that time according to Morison and Commager, Republicans were Progressive/Liberal and the Democrats or should I say Dixiecrats were Conservatives.
Under the elder Forrest, the Klan’s violence grew almost uncontrollable. PBS’ American Experience reports:
In the time leading up to the 1868 presidential election, the Klan's activities picked up in speed and brutality. The election, which pitted Republican Ulysses S. Grant against Democrat Horatio Seymour, was crucial. Republicans would continue programs that prevented Southern whites from gaining political control in their states. Klan members knew that given the chance, the blacks in their communities would vote Republican.
Across the South, the Klan and other terrorist groups used brutal violence to intimidate Republican voters. In Kansas, over 2,000 murders were committed in connection with the election. In Georgia, the number of threats and beatings was even higher. And in Louisiana, 1000 blacks were killed as the election neared. In those three states, Democrats won decisive victories at the polls.
Democrats. Not Republicans, not Tea Partiers. Democrats. Originally Posted by Hotrod511