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The Invisible Empires: American Society and the Ku Klux Klan since 1866: Sources

Module description

The Ku Klux Klan, America’s most iconic terrorist group, has re-emerged multiple times over the course of this nation’s history to defend what its members consider true American values and to attack those deemed to be threats to the country. Since its inception in the Reconstruction period, where it functioned as a vigilante group to combat the changes resulting from the Civil War, the Klan has evolved to espouse a broad variety of reactionary beliefs including white supremacy, anti-Semitism, social conservatism and religious fundamentalism. This module aims to introduce you to the sources documenting the development of this organisation and the perspectives of its members and opponents, and to the methodological approaches employed by historians and others to uncover the history of this secretive organisation. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

From the birth of this movement in the turbulent Reconstruction period to its contemporary manifestations, the Ku Klux Klan has shaped American society and attitudes towards ideas of race, gender, class, religion, culture and society. Together with its co-requisite, this module aims to:

• Trace the development of the Ku Klux Klan and its history as told from the perspective of the members and opponents of this organisation, as well as broader elements of American society
• Employ a broad variety of sources that will allow you to understand the everyday experiences of Americans who belonged to the Klan and those were targeted by its members, and to understand broader themes in American history relating to race relations, domestic terrorism, and conservative politics
• Using published and unpublished archival material, as well as the ever-growing collection of digitised sources, this module will ask you to examine and critically assess documents such as official sources from the various Klans and anti-Klan organisations, oral accounts, memoirs, films, images, Congressional hearings, and reports by law enforcement agencies produced by Americans since 1866

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the different sources available for the study of the Ku Klux Klan and American far-right extremism, together with a very close specialist knowledge of those sources which the students focus upon in their seminar presentations and written work
• 2. Analyse the complex diversity of the sources studied

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Analyse closely original sources and to assess their reliability as historical evidence. Ability to focus on and comprehend complex texts
• 4. Understand and deploy relevant historical terminology in a comprehensible manner
• 5. Follow social and political developments across the period

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Carry out independent and autonomous study and group work, including presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning
• 7. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment
• 8. Present complex arguments orally

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• The origin of the Ku Klux Klan in Southern traditions of minstrelsy, organised vigilantism, and fraternalism
• Its expansion throughout the region as a terrorist organisation that sought to regulate the behaviour of former slaves and those attempting to aid them
• The Klan’s re-emergence in the 20th century and its transformation into a nationwide order with a broader conservative and racist ideology
• The reactions of African-Americans and others to the growth of this organisation and the strategies they employed to combat Klan activities

The introductory sessions for this module will provide an overview of the subject and also expose students to the sources themselves. The seminars will focus on sources drawn from published, archival, and digitised resources, allowing students to develop their knowledge of the subject in conjunction with the close analysis of historiography provided in the co-requisite module, and to develop their skills in source analysis and acquisition. Some of the sources will be presented by individual students, others will be presented by students working in groups; and on other occasions there will be open discussion; students may also be expected to present and discuss specific sources they have found themselves from the module resources. Students will be expected to prepare for seminars by reading and evaluating the relevant sources in advance, and will discuss the issues raised by them in the seminars.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

The re-assessment consists of a 4000 word portfolio of source work, as in the original assessment, but replaces the individual presentation with a written script that could be delivered in such a presentation and which is the equivalent of 25 minutes of speech (2,500 words).

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Methodological Readings:

• Kelly J. Baker, Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930 (University Press of Kansas) – Introduction
• Kathleen Blee, ‘Evidence, Empathy, and Ethics: Lessons from Oral Histories of the Klan,’ The Journal of American History 80, No. 2 (Sep., 1993), pp. 596-606.
• Kathleen Blee, Brittany Hanstad and Aislinn Addington, ‘Voyeurism, Ethics, and the Lure of the Extraordinary: Lessons from Studying America's Underground,’ Social Thought & Research 28, (2007), pp. 3-22

Published Primary Sources – Indicative Examples

• Shawn Leigh Alexander (ed.), Reconstruction Violence and the Ku Klux Klan Hearings (Bedford Books, 2015)
• Henry P. Fry, The Modern Ku Klux Klan (Small, Maynard & Company, 1922)
• David A. Horowitz (ed.), Inside the Klavern: The Secret History of a Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999)
• J.C. Lester and D.L. Wilson, Ku Klux Klan: Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment (Neale Publishing Company, 1905)
• Ku Klux Klan: Files (Filiquarian Publishing, 2007)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE - https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11337 
• Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938 - https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/about-this-collection
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, 1789-1949 - https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
• African American Newspapers 1827-1998 - http://www.readex.com/content/african-american-newspapers-1827-1998
• Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, 1871-72 - http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/metabook?id=insurrection1872
• Documenting the American South - http://docsouth.unc.edu
• Digital Archive: The Fiery Cross - https://libraries.indiana.edu/collection-digital-archive-fiery-cross
• Harper’s Weekly - http://www.harpweek.com
• Civil Rights Movement Veterans - http://www.crmvet.org/index.htm
• The Online Books Page – Ku Klux Klan Collections - http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/search.html

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Times (Exeter Electronic Library)

Key words search

Ku Klux Klan; Terrorism; Far Right-Extremism; American history