Ku Klux Klan Founded in Pulaski, Tennessee

The Ku Klux Klan was organized in Pulaski, Tennessee in late 1865 or early 1866 by former Confederate officers, including Nathan Bedford Forrest as Grand Wizard. By 1868 the Klan operated across the South, using murder, arson, and flogging to suppress Black voting, terrorize Republican officials, and destroy Black churches and schools. Congress estimated thousands were killed by 1871.