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The Three Klans: Ethno-Politics in the 19th and 20th Century US

Module description

This module focuses on primary and secondary sources related to the three manifestations of the Ku Klux Klan. It will concentrate on both primary and secondary sources, including film, radio and web pages to establish the similarities and differences of each manifestation of America’s most famous and recognisable hate-mongers.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will investigate the way in which, at their peak, the politics of bigotry could mobilise and inspire millions of Americans to join the Ku Klux Klan. It will encourage critical engagement with themes of race, violence, fraternity and exploitation in an American historical context. This module will examine these elements from an assortment of perspectives, using a vast variety of sources to question how such a seemingly minority organisation can command such political, cultural and social influence in the world’s most affluent democracy.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. To gain an understanding of the emergence, evolution and continuity of this the most iconic and persistent of American hate groups
• 2. You will gain a knowledge of the elements which created the conditions for three manifestations of the Klan – in the 1870s, 1920s and 1960s
• 3. Evaluate a variety of primary and secondary sources in a field of history dominated by non-academic interpretations

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 4. Formulate appropriate questions relating to a body of source material and utilize that material to answer those questions
• 5. With minimum guidance, develop and sustain historical arguments in a variety of literary forms, using appropriate terminology
• 6. Display a command of comparative perspectives
• 7. Analyse at a close and sophisticated level original sources and assess their reliability as historical evidence
• 8. Evaluate critically the reasoning of discourses current in the period under study

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 9. Combine independent, autonomous study with the ability to work collaboratively
• 10. Set tasks independently and solve problems, formulating appropriate questions and marshalling relevant evidence to answer them
• 11. With minimum guidance, digest, select and synthesise evidence and arguments to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument

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:

• Overview of the Klan
• Civil War and Reconstruction
• Pulaski and the Origins of the Klan
• Terror in the South
• The Klan Defeated
• Thomas Dixon and the Birth of a Nation
• Leo Frank and Tom Watson
• Simmons and Stone Mountain
• Modern Marketing
• War and Patriotism
• Prohibition, Morality and the Klan
• Protestants and Catholics
• Anti-Radicalism
• Women and the Klan
• The Klan and Fraternity
• Variations on a Theme
• Corruption and Implosion
• The Klan and the New Deal
• Civil Rights
• David Duke and Modern Hate
• The Klan's Enemies and Allies
• The Image of the Klan in Fact and Fiction

The lectures will provide a spine of ideas and information. These will form a basis upon which you can build your own interpretations and explore concepts and issues further in the seminars. The seminar work will comprise (1) discussions of particular topics and sources relating to the subject matter of the module and (2) group presentations on particular topics, developing students’ teamwork and oral skills.

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

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

• Chalmers, Hooded Americanism (NY, 1965) Kenneth Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan in the City (Chicago, 1992)
• Evelyn Schlatter, Ayran Cowboys (Austin, 2006) Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross (NY, 1987)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11892 

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• Birth of a Nation (1915) directed by DW Griffith
• The Klansman (1974) directed by Terence Young