What were the early goals of the KKK?

Answer 1

The idea of the KKK was to intimidate former slaves to a degree where they would be reluctant to be come viable competition for the whites in the south who up to this time relied on black labour to further their interests. They were a group of frustrated people who had suddenly found themselves in a situation where the kidnapping, abuse, robbing, and raping of a considerable part of their society had become acceptable. Slavery is maintained by fear, and they were hoping to instill fear in the hearts of the former slaves and eventually their offspring in order to maintain some sort of advantage over them that did not involve actually earning the respect they felt was their birthright, by being white.

The original Ku Klux Klan was organized at Pulaski, Tenn., in May, 1866 by ex-Confederate elements to oppose the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain "white supremacy." After the Civil War, Law enforcement and government in many parts of the south was weak to non existent. And keeping in mind the number of emancipated slaves white people became fearful of black revenge and even of an insurrection, vigilante organizations were formed in most of the southern communities such as The Men of Justice, the Pale Faces, the Constitutional Union Guards, the White Brotherhood, and the Order of the White Rose.

From a personal point of view if I had been a slave owner during that time I would not feel very secure especially knowing that slaves outnumbered whites by a considerable number. [Note: even after the deaths from the Civil War were taken into account, Whites outnumbered Blacks in the former Confederacy by over 2:1. However, this was very much subject to local conditions, with rural areas around the former plantations often having Blacks outnumber Whites, while major population centers have very few Blacks at all]

Essentially, the original KKK was form to resist Reconstruction, and return the Old South to as close to the pre-Civil War social order as possible, where Whites dominated and Coloreds served.

Answer 2

At first the main objective of white supremacy organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan was to stop black people from voting. After white governments had been established in the South, the Ku Klux Klan continued to undermine the power of blacks. Successful black business's were attacked and any attempt to form black protection groups such as trade unions was quickly dealt with.

Eventually the Klan targeted anyone they disliked - Jews, Catholics etc.

Answer 3

the kkk meant to wipe out the black slaves who were freed. They never thought that the black slaves could incounter so much freedom.