organization. The Ku Klux Klan had become soft in enforcing its policies and this deficiency allowed its members to cause chaos throughout the Southern states. Because many of the police supported the Ku Klux Klan movement, many incidents occurred and no investigation ever followed. The Ku Klux Klan was finally slowed when the Federal Bureau of Investigations stepped in and became involved in reducing the power of the group. The major reason many incidents took place is that many ex-confederate soldiers had begun organizing their own dens. The hatred of blacks was the main reason that many people decided to join the Ku Klux Klan movement. As the Ku Klux Klan’s membership grew, it obtained a wide range of enrollees. The Ku Klux Klan had members from all social classes (Knights of the KKK, p. 6). Not all of the members joined the Ku Klux Klan to cause trouble; many joined to keep from being victims. Ku Klux Klan members admitted that they were a “rough bunch of boys” and a ten-dollar joining fee had allowed anyone to join; no person was responsible for monitoring motives for joining. For instance, many politicians had joined just so they would have the help of the Ku Klux Klan in campaigning of the election. General Forrest tried to be strict on membership requirements, but his objective failed (Invisible Empire, p. 14).One of the Ku Klux Klan’s strong attractions to the average American was its secrecy, which was also one of the weak points which led to its undoing. The mystery of the white sheet made control of the members a virtual impossibility, which resulted in the perpetration of all types of crimes by the Klansmen. Because of this, the leaders officially broke up the organization in 1869, tore up their Klan insignia, and destroyed their records. Nevertheless, white-robed nightriders continued to terrorize communities until the United States Congress passed laws in 1871-1872 aimed at the disba...
