Where exactly did the name Ku Klux Klan come from?

Question

Not exactly the most fear inspiring name choice...

Answer 1

Ku Klux Klan Creation

The original Ku Klux Klan was created after the end of the American Civil War on December 24, 1865, by six educated, middle-class Confederate veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee, who were bored with postwar routine. The name was constructed by combining the Greek "kyklos" (circle) with "clan"

The Ku Klux Klan soon spread into nearly every southern state, launching a "reign of terror" against Republican leaders both black and white. Those assassinated during the campaign included Arkansas Congressman James M. Hinds, three members of the South Carolina legislature, and several men who had served in constitutional conventions."

From 1866 to 1867, the Klan began breaking up black prayer meetings and invading black homes at night to steal firearms. Some of these activities may have been modeled on previous Tennessee vigilante groups such as the "Yellow Jackets" and "Redcaps."

In an 1867 meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, an effort was made to create a hierarchical organization with local chapters reporting to county leaders, counties reporting to districts, districts reporting to states, and states reporting to a national headquarters. The proposals, in a document called the "Prescript," were written by George Gordon, a former Confederate brigadier general. The Prescript included inspirational language about the goals of the Klan along with a list of questions to be asked of applicants for membership, which confirmed the focus on resisting Reconstruction and the Republican Party. The applicant was to be asked whether he was a Republican, a Union Army veteran, or a member of the Loyal League; whether he was "opposed to ***** equality both social and political;" and whether he was in favor of "a white man's government," "maintaining the constitutional rights of the South," "the reenfranchisement and emancipation of the white men of the South, and the restitution of the Southern people to all their rights," and "the inalienable right of self-preservation of the people against the exercise of arbitrary and unlicensed power."

Despite the work that came out of the 1867 meeting, the Prescript was never accepted by any of the local units. They continued to operate autonomously, and there never were county, district or state headquarters.

According to one oral report, Gordon went to former slave trader and Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest in Memphis, Tennessee, and told him about the new organization, to which Forrest replied, "That's a good thing; that's a damn good thing. We can use that to keep the n..... in their place." A few weeks later, Forrest was selected as Grand Wizard, the Klan's national leader. In later interviews, however, Forrest denied the leadership role and stated that he never had any effective control over the Klan cells.

Answer 2

The Klan was created in 1915 by a Methodist Minister following the movie "Birth of a Nation" which depicted an earlier group known just as the "Ku Klux" no Klan in their name.

Col. Simmons (Methodist Minister and Imperial Wizard) added the name Klan and used the logo of the Methodist Church (a burning cross).

Ku Klux is from the name Kuklos (circular).

Answer 3

The OED and the Encyclopaedia Brittanica say the name is "said to be" or "apparently" from Greek "kyklos", circle.


[Origin: Ku Klux (perh. < Gk kýklos circle, assembly) + Klan, sp. var. of clan]

Answer 4

it came from stupidness hah ku sucks bad

Answer 5

It's Latin for "We strike fear"