THE devices for attracting attention were
eminently successful. During the months of
July and August, 1866, the Klan was much
talked about by the citizens of Pulaski. Its
mysteriousness was the sensation of the hour.
Every issue of the local paper contained some
notice of the strange order.
†
These notices were
copied into other papers, and in this manner
the way was prepared for the rapid growth and
spread of the Klan, which soon followed.
Six weeks or less from the date of the
organization, the sensation in Pulaski was
waning. Curiosity in regard to it had abated
to such a degree that the Klan would have
certainly fallen to pieces but for the following circumstances.
By the time the eligible
material in the town had been used up, young
men from the country, whose curiosity had
been inflamed by the notices in the papers,
began to come in and apply for admission to
the Klan. Some of these applications were
accepted. In a little while the members so
admitted asked permission to establish “dens”
at various points in the county. No provision had been made for
such a contingency,
but the permission was granted; had it not
been, the result would, in all probability, have
been the same.
As the ritual followed by the Pulaski Klan
could not be conveniently carried out in the
country, various modifications and changes
were permitted. But the strictest injunctions
were laid on these new lodges, or “dens,“ in
regard to secrecy, mystery, and the character
of the men admitted. The growth in the
rural districts was more rapid than it had been
in the town. Applications for permission to
establish “dens” multiplied rapidly.
The news that the Ku Klux were spreading to the
country excited the attention of
the country people as the existence of the
Klan in town had not done. The same cause
rekindled the waning interest of the town
people. Every issue of the local papers in the
“infected regions” bristled with highly mysterious and
exciting accounts of the doings of
the fantastic gentry.
During the fall and winter of 1866 the
growth of the Klan was rapid. It spread over
a wide extent of territory. Sometimes, by a
sudden leap, it appeared in localities far distant from any
existing “dens.” A stranger
from West Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama,
or Texas, visiting in a neighborhood where
the order prevailed, would be initiated, and
on his departure carry with him permission
to establish a “den” at home. In fact, it was
done often without such permission. The
connecting link between these “dens” was very
fragile. By a sort of tacit agreement the
Pulaski Klan was regarded as the source of
power and authority. The Grand Cyclops of
this den was virtually the ruler of the order;
but as he had no method of communication
with subjects or subordinates, and no way in
which to enforce his mandates, his authority
was more fancy than fact. But so far there
had appeared no need for rigid rules and close
supervision. The leading spirits of the Ku
Klux were still contemplating nothing more
serious than amusement. They enjoyed the
baffled curiosity and wild speculations of a
mystified public even more than the rude
sport afforded by the ludicrous initiations.
Such is the account of the Ku Klux Klan in
the first period of its history, from June, 1866,
{Page 403}
to April, 1867. Yet all this time it was gradually and in a very natural way taking on new
features not at first remotely contemplated by
the originators of the order; features which
finally transformed the Ku Klux Klan into a
band of “Regulators.”
The transformation was effected by the
combined operation of three causes: (1) the
impression made by the order upon the minds
of those who united with it; (2) the impression
produced upon the public by its weird and mysterious ways; (3) the anomalous and peculiar
condition of affairs in the South at this time.
†
The mystery and secrecy with which the
Klan veiled itself made a singular impression
on the minds of many who united with it.
The most common conclusion reached by
those whose attention was attracted to the
Klan was that it contemplated some great
and important mission; its rapid extension
was regarded as confirmatory of this conclusion; and, when admitted to membership, this
impression was deepened rather than dispelled
by what they saw and heard. There was not
a word in the ritual, or in the obligation, or
in any part of the ceremony, to favor it; but
the impression still remained that this mysteriousness and secrecy, the high-sounding
titles of the officers, the grotesque dress of the
members, and the formidable obligation to
profound secrecy, all meant more than mere
sport. This conviction was ineradicable, and
the attitude of many of its members continued to be that of expecting great developments. Each had his own
speculations as to
what was to be the character of the serious
work which the Klan was to do. It was an
unhealthy and dangerous state of mind; bad
results very naturally followed from it.
The impression made on the public was
the second cause which contributed to the
transformation of the Klan into regulators.
When the Klan first began to hold its meetings in .the dilapidated house on the hill,
passers-by were frequent. Most of them
passed the grim and ghostly sentinel on the
roadside in silence, but always with a quickened step. Occasionally one would stop and
ask: “Who are you?” In awfully sepulchral
tones, the invariable answer was: “A spirit
from the other world. I was killed at Chickamauga.” Such an answer, especially when
given to a superstitious negro, was extremely
terrifying; and if, in addition, he heard the uproarious noises issuing from the “den” at the
moment of a candidates investiture with the
“regal crown,” he had the foundation for a most
awe-inspiring story. There came from the country similar stories. The belated laborer, passing
after nightfall some lonely and secluded spot,
heard horrible noises and saw fearful sights.
These stories were repeated with such embellishments as the imagination of the narrator
suggested, till the feeling of the negroes
and of many white people at mention of the
Ku Klux was one of awe and terror. In a
short time the Lictor of the Pulaski “den”
reported that travel along the road on which
he had his post had almost entirely stopped.
In the country it was noticed that the nocturnal perambulations of the colored population diminished or
entirely ceased wherever the
Ku Klux appeared. In this way the Klan gradually realized that the most powerful devices
ever constructed for controlling the ignorant
and superstitious were in their hands. Even
the most highly cultured were not able wholly
to resist the weird and peculiar feeling which
pervaded the whole community. Each week
some new incident occurred to illustrate the
amazing power of the Unknown over the
minds of men of all classes.
Circumstances made it evident that the
measures and methods employed for sport
might be effectually used to subserve the
public welfare—to suppress lawlessness and
protect property. When propositions to this
effect began to be urged, there were many who
hesitated, fearing danger. The majority regarded such fears as groundless. They pointed
to the good results which had already been
produced, and the question was decided without any formal action. The very force of circumstances had carried
the Klan away from its
original purpose; so that in the beginning of
the year 1867 it was virtually, though not yet
professedly, a band of regulators, honestly, but
in an injudicious and dangerous way, trying to
protect property and preserve peace and order.
After all, the most powerful agency in effecting this transformation—the agency which
supplied the conditions under which the two
causes just mentioned became operative—was
the peculiar state of affairs existing in the
South at that time. As every one knows, the
condition of things was wholly anomalous; but
no one can fully appreciate the circumstances
by which the people of the South were surrounded, or pronounce a just judgment on
their behavior, except from personal observations. On this account, not only the Ku Klux,
but the mass of the Southern people, have
been tried, convicted, and condemned at the
bar of public opinion, and have been denied
the privilege of having the sentence modified
by mitigating circumstances, which in justice
they have a right to plead.
At that time the throes of the great revolution were settling down to quiet.
The almost universal disposition of the better class
of the people was to accept the arbitrament
which the sword had accorded them. On this
{Page 404}
point there was practical unanimity. Those
who had opportunity to do so engaged at
once in agricultural, professional, or business
pursuits. But there were two causes of vexation and exasperation which the people were
in no good mood to bear. One of these causes
related to that class of men who, like scum,
were thrown to the surface in the great upheaval. Most of them had played traitor to
both sides; on that account they were despised. Had they been Union men from conviction, that
would have been forgiven them.
But they were now engaged in keeping alive
discord and strife between the sections, as the
only means of preventing themselves from
sinking back into the obscurity from which
they had been upheaved. They were doing
this in a way not only malicious, but exceedingly exasperating. The second disturbing
element was the negroes. Their transition
from slavery to citizenship was sudden. They
were not only not fitted
† for the cares of
self-control and maintenance so suddenly thrust
upon them, but they entered their new role in
life under the delusion that freedom meant
license. They regarded themselves as
freed
men, not only from bondage to former masters, but from the common and ordinary obligations of
citizenship. Many of them looked
upon obedience to the laws of the State—which had been framed by their former owners—as
in some measure a compromise of
the rights with which they had been invested.
The administration of civil law was only
partly reestablished. On that account, and
for other reasons mentioned, there was an
amount of disorder and violence prevailing
over the country which has never been equaled
at any period of its history. The depredations
on property by theft, and by wanton destruction for the gratification of petty revenge, were
to the last degree annoying. A large part of
these depredations was the work of bad white
men, who expected that their lawless deeds
would be credited to the negroes.
But perhaps the most potent of all causes
in this transformation was the existence in the
South of a spurious and perverted form of
the “Union League.”* It would be as unfair
to this organization, as it existed at the North,
to charge it with responsibility for the outrages committed in its name, as it is to charge
upon the Ku Klux Klan much of the lawlessness and violence with which it is credited.
But it is a part of the history of these times
that there was a wide-spread organization
called the “Union League.” It was composed
of the disorderly elements of the negro population, and was led by white men of the
basest and meanest type. They met frequently, went armed to the teeth, and literally
“breathed out threatening and slaughter.”
They uttered the most violent threats against
the persons, families, and property of men
whose sole crime was that they had been in
the Confederate army, and in not a few instances these threats were executed. It was
partly to resist this organization that the
Ku Klux were transformed into a protective
organization. Whatever may be the judgment
of history, those who were acquainted with
the facts will ever remain firm in the conviction that the organization of the Ku Klux
Klan was of immense service at this period.
Without it life to decent people would not
have been tolerable. It served a good purpose,
for wherever the Ku Klux appeared the
effect was salutary.
It was a dangerous experiment, this transforming of the Klan into regulators; on the
whole it was no more successful than other
experiments of a similar character have been.
Yet, as we have said, the immediate results
were good, and, for that reason, in their final
issue the more disastrous. Permanent good
was also effected; but whether enough of it to
counterbalance the attending evils, is doubtful.
For a while the robberies ceased. The
lawless class assumed the habits of good behavior. Under their fear of the dreaded Ku Klux the
negroes made more progress in a
few months in the needed lessons of self-control, industry,
and respect for the rights of
property and general good behavior, than
they would have done in as many years but
for this or some equally powerful impulse.
The “Union League.” relaxed its desperate
severity and became more moderate. But
events soon occurred which showed that the
fears of those who apprehended danger were
not wholly groundless, and it became evident
that unless the Klan should be brought
under better control than its leaders at this
time exercised, it would cause greater evils
than it suppressed.
