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What was a primary goal of the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction era? A) ...

Nov 14, 2023

What was a primary goal of the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction era? A) To promote racial harmony B) To overthrow the US government C) To restore white supremacy and intimidate African Americans D) To support immigration

C

Key Concept

KC-5.3.II.D During Reconstruction, groups such as the Ku Klux Klan used violence and intimidation to undermine the political rights of African Americans and to reestablish white supremacy in the South.

Explanation

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded in the 1860s during the Reconstruction era with the primary goal of restoring white supremacy in the Southern states after the Civil War. The Klan sought to undermine the Reconstruction efforts by the federal government aimed at establishing political and economic equality for African Americans. They used terror, violence, and intimidation against African Americans and their allies to prevent them from exercising their new civil and political rights, including the right to vote. The Klan's actions were part of a broader resistance among some white Southerners to the changes imposed by Reconstruction and the federal government's efforts to enforce civil rights for freed slaves.