Douglas R. Egerton

The KKK violently resisted the revolutionary gains of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and sought to keep the black masses toiling in submission.

From rum to cakes to rowdy parades, election day was a time for gathering and celebration.

When the white-supremacist group terrorized the South during Reconstruction, many people denied that it even existed.

Some issues are too fundamental for a party to withstand, and the consequences can last for a generation.