settlers that committed hate crimes against African-Americans, including acts such as hangings, lynching, and overall abuse of African-Americans. Some said the purpose of the Klan was to “keep the negroes from rising,” “keep fusses down and colored men and white women apart (Firsthand 15).” A man by the name of Jim Williams, the captain of a black militia unit, was brutally hung by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1871 and this act led to the arrests of many Klan members, and the prosecution of Klan leaders (Firsthand 3). The arrests opened the public’s eyes to these atrocities resulting from Reconstruction and the existence of the Ku Klux Klan. Throughout the Reconstruction period, there are recurring recollections of the Ku Klux Clan murdering and beating African-Americans but the significance of the murder of Jim Williams is that it exposed this hateful congregation of men and their intentions, helping to alleviate the African-Americans’ position at that point.Aside from the Ku Klux Klan, other White Southerners did not support the idea of Reconstruction either. One White Southerner, named Caleb G. Forsey, stated, “I think freedom is very unfortunate for the negro; I think it is sad; his present helpless condition touches my heart more than anything else I ever contemplated, and I think that is the common sentiment of our slaveholders (Firsthand 37).” Caleb G. Forsey’s statement illustrates the helplessness of the ex-slaves to live and function on their own and shows that some of the ex-slaveowners felt slight compassion for their former slaves. Other white settlers held much different views of the Reconstruction period, however, which lead to disputes between the two races. Reverend James Sinclair, another White Southerner, stated, “The poor whites are to-day very much opposed to conferring upon the negro right of suffrage; as much so as the other classes of whites. ...
