http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/kkk_intro.htm

The Beginning

The Ku Klux Klan originated in the South in the late 1800s. Led by confederate who's man goal was to prevent slaves from exercising their new acquired rights, but it didn't last long as the Confederates stopped after only three years. Almost fifty years later however the Klan returned and this time meant business.

The Ku Klux Klan wanted to have a major impact. The Klan wanted to impact American society, beliefs, and rights. In Atlanta a man named William Joseph Simmons led a dozen men up a rocky trail on the imposing granite crest of stone mountain. Simmons ignited a pine cross that light up the Georgia sky. With a bible in his hand, Simmons led the men in a vow of allegiance to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. (Streitmatter109) This ceremony began the resurrection of the KKK as in the next decade it inflamed into a nationwide organization. The KKK offered people a sense of fraternity,and  a commitment to self defined traditional American values. The KKK really showed they were a force to be reckoned with when one of their members were elected to U.S.Senate in Texas, a Governor in Oregon,and won a senate race in Colorado.

Taking Over

http://my.opera.com

After Simmons revived the klan in 1915 his followers remained quite low until 1920 when two promoters recognized that the klan was a financial gold mind. Edward Young Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler persuaded Simmons to pay them one-fourth of the ten dollar each new member paid an arrangement's that ultimatley yielded the recruiters a sum of $30,000 a week. (Streitmatter 111)With Clarke's ambition and Tyler's creativity the Ku Klux Klan had up to four million members by 1924. Clarke and Tyler urged their recruiters to fill their rhetoric with loaded phrases such as "pure women hood, "100 percent Americans, and "the tenets of the religion Christian religion".(Streitmatter 111) Ku Klux Klan recruiters were also promised better schools, improved law enforcement, and hold fast to traditional values being threatened by social permissive Roaring Twenties.

The World Takes Issue

The first and most comprehensive journalistic crusade in defiance of the Klan was the New York World. The New York World promoted its September 1921 blockbuster with full ads that screamed "Ku KLux Klan Exposed!"(Streitmatter 112. The opening article stated that the Klans growth as a financial scam had stolen over forty million dollars in initiation fees. However the Worlds editors later found out that their plan to kill the KKK backfired as they gave them free publicity and informed potential Klan members of the Klans acts and published copies of the Klans application form.

The Commerical Appeal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Commercial_Appeal

The next major battlefield in the Klan- newspaper was unfolded in 1923in Memphis, where Ku KLux Klan membership exceeded 10,000. (Streitmatter 115). The editorial page condemned the Klans use of vigilante violence as a means of terrorizing the city's African Americans, Catholics, and Jews. The most affective thing The Commercial Appeal did was have bruising front page cartoons that portrayed the Klansman as cowards hiding behind masks. The Commercial Appeal played a huge role in the Memphis elections as Mayor Rowllett Paine won the election over the Klans W. Joe Wood.

The End of The KKK

The Montgomery Adviser had a huge role in shutting down the KKK.Editor Grover Cleveland Hall wanted to encourage a state law to be passed that prohibited people from wearing masks and disguises in public places and make it a felony for men that were disguised to attack citizens of Alabama. Hall wanted this law to be passed because of the KKK's violent crimes of physical punishment to people just because of their skin color or religion and in some cases just because of their gambling and drinking habits.Progressive representatives from both houses introduced tough anti-mask bills outlawing masks and robes like the ones used by members of the  KKK, stipulating that masked floggers would be tried as felons.

http://www.peopleofcolororganize.com/activism/african-liberation-white-left/

The Ku Klux Klan was a very powerful organiztaion. Having its members in The United States Senate. Journalism helped put it to bed. The New York World, The commercial Appeal, and The Montgomery Advertiser all had a role in shutting down the KKK. We still live in a world where there is some racisicim but everyone needs to wake up. Its 2012 we have an African American President, and we are all equal.

Why I Chose Chapter 3 Slowing The Momentum Of Women,s Rights.

I am a strong believer that everyone is equal. Dealing with race, gender, or anything else we are all humans and we all deserve equal rights. It always fascinated me on how in the early days these rights were non exsistant and sit and wonder what would the world be like if it was like that now? I was always curious of the process it took for women to finally get their rights and how men felt about it when it happened but never really looked in into it so wih this as one of the choices for our first blog, I was excited about working on it.

http://washingtonindependent.com/27846/women-and-the-stimulus

Summary of Chapter 3 Slowing the Momentum of Women's Rights

In the introduction,Streitmatter talks about how women's right became such a reveloution. Streitmatter discusses how men ran the fourth estate which resulted in journalism not focusing on the women's movement greatly. Streitmatter talks about what women were thought to do back then. They were expected to stay at home. Clean the house, cook, take care of the children. They were never expected by men to voice their opinions or feelings on anything.

http://otal.umd.edu/~vg/msf97/ms04/gb/project4.html
Streitmatter then begins to discuss the process of the womens movement begging in Seneca Falls. He talks about a women named Elizabeth Cady Stanton. He states that she was one of the women trying to gain more rights for the rest of her gender. Streitmatter also speaks about the man ruled newspapers would put down the w omens movement, calling the women and men who defended them hurtful names.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cady_Stanton

Women then began to get very serious about gaining their rights, and started pushing the women's revolution. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony started the revolution trying the spread the word of the women's need for equal rights. However the male lead newspapers shut it down. Then some of the women began the break apart as some were very serious about gaining the rights as Stanton and Anthony, while others were not to concerned, were layed back and weren't as assertive as the others.

Enough is Enough

Women began to push as man began to fight against them. Men wanted to target the head of the revolution so they went right after Susan B. Anthony with awful comments about her. With the papers still killing all women s revolution topics the women's movement reformed the force a stronger fight, and formed The National Women's Suffrage Association. They started forming acts to gain their right in public, which lead to many of the women being arrested and getting harassed. A women named Carrie Chapman Catt then formed her winning plan which lead to the nignteenth amendment which reads,The right of citizens of The United States to vote should not be denied or abridged by The United States or by any state on the account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.   

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/19th+Amendment

Many Mens Veiws

Even with the women gaining their right to vote in the nineteenth amendment the men still didn't take them serious and hated the idea of them having equal rights as them. Streitmatter talks about how the men in control of the paper wrote headlines about the women not holding anything back trying anything they could to stop the revolution where it was. The Worseter Telegraph  said about the women " amazons who were bolting with a vengeance" . But the times have changed now. We are all equals. Men, Women can do the same thing, and I believe its only a matter of time before a women becomes president of The United States of America. Some men are still living in the past not ok with women having equal rights and in some ways women being stronger then them but its time to grow up and face the fact that were all in this world together as one.

http://ei-awn.org/

For our first blog project, I will be doing it on chapter 3 slowing the momentum of women rights.

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