Page 404 - American Stories, A History of the United States

Such methods were first used effectively in the presidential election of 1868. Grant
lost in Louisiana and Georgia mainly because the Klan—or the Knights of the White 16.1
Camellia, as the Louisiana variant was called—launched a reign of terror to prevent blacks
from voting. In Louisiana, political violence claimed more than 1000 lives. In Arkansas,
which Grant did carry, more than 200 Republicans, including a congressman, were killed. 16.2
Thereafter, Klan terrorism was directed mainly at Republican state governments.
Virtual insurrections broke out in Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and parts
of South Carolina. Republican governors called out the state militia to fight the Klan, 16.3
but only the Arkansas militia brought it to heel. In Tennessee, North Carolina, and
Georgia, Klan activities enabled Democrats to come to power by 1870. Force acts Designed to protect
During 1870–1871, Congress provided federal protection for black suffrage and black voters in the South from 16.4
authorized using the army against the Klan. The Force Acts, also known as the Ku Klux the Ku Klux Klan in 1870–1871,
Klan acts, made interference with voting rights a federal crime and provided for federal these laws placed state elections
under federal jurisdiction and
supervision of elections. The legislation also empowered the president to call out troops imposed fines and punished those
and suspend the writ of habeas corpus to quell insurrection. During 1871–1872, the guilty of interfering with any
military or U.S. marshals arrested thousands of suspected Klansmen, and the writ was citizen exercising his right to vote.

Read the Document Albion W. Tourgee, Letter on
Ku Klux Klan Activities (1870)

KU KlUx Klan this 1868 photograph shows typical regalia of members of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret white
supremacist organization. Before elections, hooded Klansmen terrorized African Americans to discourage them
from voting.
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