Founded in 1866 by a group of former confederate soldiers in Pulaski, Tennessee, the Ku Klux Klan quickly expanded and by 1870 extended into almost every southern U.S. state.The Ku Klux Klan, for many members, became a vehicle for a white supremacist movement and resistance to the republican party's policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for black people. In this first generation of the KKK, not only were black people terrorized, but also all those who led and supported the republican party, as they were the ones who tried to establish equality for the black community. The KKK's desire to preserve white supremacy led to many murders and the terrorizing of many republican supporters which in turn led to a larger recognition of the KKK's presence by the north. This national recognition for being a brutal group led to stricter laws being set in place by the supreme court and the prosecution of many higher ranking KKK members ensued, and by the mid 1870's the presence of the KKK was nearly diminished.
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