Dec. 24, 1865 The Ku Klux Klan began on Christmas Eve in 1865. Credit: Zinn Education Project Months after the fall of the Confederacy and the end of slavery, a half dozen veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, called the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK soon became a terrorist organization, brutalizing and killing Black Americans, immigrants, sympathetic whites and others.  While the first wave of the KKK operated in the South through the 1870s, the second wave spread throughout the U.S., adding Catholics, Jews and others to their enemies’ list. Membership rose to 4 million or so.  The KKK returned again in the 1950s and 1960s, this time in opposition to the civil rights movement. Despite the history of violence by this organization, the federal government has yet to declare the KKK a terrorist organization. More on this day On this day in 1946 December 23, 2024December 20, 2024 On this day in 1997 December 22, 2024December 19, 2024 Load more posts Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again. The post On this day in 1865 appeared first on Mississippi Today.