Since the late 1860s, there have been many organizations that have used the title "Ku Klux Klan" or have split off from KKK groups using different names.
During Reconstruction, there were a number of white supremacist paramilitary groups that were organized in order to resist the reconstruction measures. While the Ku Klux Klan was the most famous group, it overlapped in membership and ideology with a number of others. In some cases, they were virtually indistinguishable from each other.[1]
Between the Reconstruction period, known as the Klan's "first era", and the rebirth of the modern movement in 1915, there were a handful of groups that scholars have identified as "bridges" that engaged in similar vigilante activities and introduced Klan-type organizing into areas that were untouched by Reconstruction.[2][full citation needed] In some cases, small towns often had so-called "decency committees" or "vigilance committees", which often used vigilante tactics against targets such as criminals, prostitutes, drunkards, and in some instances, Black people, Native Americans, Mexicans, Chinese Americans, European immigrants, Catholics, Mormons, and non-Christians, including Jews and atheists. Sometimes, in fact, their attire or their disguises resembled those which were worn by the KKK.[citation needed]
During the "second era" , the KKK movement saw the rise and decline of one of the largest and most influential Klan factions, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Inc. There were a few splinter groups, though, such as the Knights of the Flaming Sword, founded by ousted Imperial Wizard William J. Simmons and the Independent Klan of America, founded by Indiana Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson.[3][full citation needed] The 1930s saw the growth of fascist-leaning groups such as the Black Legion and a revived Knights of the White Camellia.[4][full citation needed] It was also during this time period, that, for the first time ever, some KKK groups began to openly establish working relationships with pro-Nazi and pro-fascist groups, such as the German-American Bund and the Silver Shirts. The KKK also openly worked alongside the Anti-Saloon League, in order to achieve their shared goal of enforcing prohibition.
In the period roughly between the end of World War II and the passage of the Supreme Court's so-called "Black Monday" ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, a number of small local "associations of Klans" were active, mainly in the Southeastern states.[5] [citation needed]
During the period of the civil rights movement in the late 1950s and 1960s, the Klan experienced its "third era" which saw the growth of a number of KKK groups that sought to resist desegregation, by peaceful as well as violent means. However, desegregation was not their only target, other targets of the Klan's protests and hatred included the 1960s counterculture, labor unions, divorce, the theory of Evolution, liberalism, and so-called Jewish Bolshevism. It was also during this time that many Klan groups began to work with other white supremacist groups like the White Citizens' Council, the American Nazi Party and the National States' Rights Party.[citation needed]
Since the 1970s, the Klan's popularity, both among racists and the general public, has been in consistent decline. Just between 2016 and 2019 the number of self-identified Klan groups dropped from 130 to 51.[6] While this may be partially influenced by popular public opinion against the Klan's views, it may also be influenced by the Klan's perceived modern lack of relevance among Americans whose politics tilt toward racist ideologies. Many factions of the Klan began to form alliances with neo-Nazi groups, some members of the American militia movement, and other right-wing extremists, with the goal of cross-recruitment.[7]
Since the foundation of the original Klan, a number of Ku Klux Klan groups and chapters have emerged outside the United States in places like Canada, Europe and South America.