A General History of the KKK

    The Klu Klux Klan was founded in 1866, and extended into virtually every southern state by 1870, and became the foundation for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies (which were aimed at establishing political and economic equality for African Americans).

   The KKK, in general,  attempted to inspire intimidation and violence directed at both white and black Republican leaders. Though Congress passed legislation designed to curb KKK terrorism, the Klu Klux Klan still sought after its main goal: the reestablishment of white supremacy, which would be brought through Southern Democratic victories in state legislatures in the 1870s.

     After a period of decline, white Protestant nativist groups revived the Klu Klux Klan at around 1915. With KKK members burning crosses and staging parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, blacks and organized labor, the KKK was officially established again, although this terrorist group was aimed towards a more wide variety of minorities, in contrast to the KKK from the late 19th century. The civil rights movement of the 1960s also saw a revival of Ku Klux Klan activity, including violence against both black and white civil rights activists in the South.


Sources:
http://www.american-historama.org/1866-1881-reconstruction-era/ku-klux-klan.htm