“The best informed persons in the most disturbed districts in this State estimate that from two-thirds to three-fourths of all the white men, between the ages of sixteen and fifty, are members of the Ku-Klux order. . . . Each chief and Klan knows and receives orders from his district chief and his assistants, but does not, except by accident, know who the higher officers are. So district chiefs know the officers next above them in rank, but not necessarily those of higher grade. Special grips, passwords and signs, known only to the district and division chiefs and to those of higher grade, make it possible for them, when necessary, to make themselves known officially to the subordinates."
1. How is power organized in the KKK?:
2. Why would "special grips, passwords, and signs" be required? Explain.
3. How popular do you think a group like this is during the 1870s? What leads you to believe that?:
