The first Ku Klux Klan was a fringe group that started to grow and threaten both freed African-Americans and Southern Republicans. it was virtually eradicated by the laws (Enforcement Acts) that were passed by the federal government in order to fight its crimes.
The Iteration of the 1920s was based in a completely different situation. In 1915, David W. Griffith, one of the most important pioneers of modern cinematography in the history of film, released his film The Birth of a Nation, which was based on the highly racist novel of Southern author Thomas Frederick Dixon Jr.
Because of its visionary cinematic techniques and the talented and famous cast, the film was a resounding success and it stirred the racist and romanticized views of Southern white supremacists on the Civil War, Slavery and the first Ku Klux Klan. Of course, this second KKK was quite different from the first one in many aspects:
- Rituals that did not exist or were practiced by the members of the first one (the white hooded robes, the burning crosses, the open mass parades.
- A much bigger and better national organization with paid, full time employees, the selling of costumes and the new memberships.
- Its fierce hostility to not only African-Americans but to white Catholics, Jews, Italians and even Communists.
- its support of Prohibition which was in contradiction with the penchant of Southerners for alcohol.
All of these new "principles" were actually inspired by the film. Its cultural impact was so important that it inspired the resurgence of these racist ideas and their temporary legitimization during the 1920s.
