When Congress investigated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1870s, more than a few reputed leaders argued that the organization was a "necessary" response to the Union League. They complained about the accumulation of arms, secret meetings, threatening mobilizations, and a "general flaunting of civilities" among former slaves. The reputed leaders helped construct a discourse that justified vigilantism and demonized Radical Reconstruction. African Americans understood well that democracy in the United States had been built on violence and repression. They understood that any successes they might find would depend on their ability to do battle. "Paramilitary organization had been fundamental to the social and political order of slavery; it remained fundamental to the social and political order of freedom" (pg. 266).
Union League activities did generally precede the appearance.....
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