2
William Joseph Simmons
After the six members had established their club, the Klansmen covered themselves with sheets, and they were riding across Pulaski in the evening in order to raise the black people’s attention. Their clothes and their show were so efficient that the members decided to keep the white sheet as the official uniform of the Klan. They also added tall pointed hats and scary looking masks to their attire so their appearance could have a greater effect on the town’s inhabitants. What is
important to highlight here is that in the beginning the Klansmen had no intention to establish a countrywide movement, but when the founding members saw that their appearance influenced the black population, they reconsidered their idea and welcomed new members to their club so they could fight for their common goal (10).
As it was mentioned earlier the Klan’s founders were former Confederate soldiers. They were highly disappointed after losing the war against the Union and they wished to stop the black population from gaining greater freedom than they previously had. The thirteenth and fourteenth amendments which were accepted by the Congress were active and valid on paper however, it did not change the mentality of Southern aristocrats. They lost free workforce on their plantations and their lifestyle changed, so when the KKK came to exist these aristocrats saw the possibility for reestablishing slavery (12). In my opinion, this could be one of the main reasons why the Klan became an influential group instead of fading away after a few months. The Reconstruction governments were having hard time changing the mentality of the South and make the aristocrats accept the new order. Therefore, many black people left the South and moved to the North where they could live as equal members of the American society. What was the Klansmen’s goal and how were they able to stay active for a long time?