US History · 11th Grade · Depression, New Deal & World War II · Weeks 19-27

Resurgence of the KKK & Nativism

Investigate the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and its broader nativist and anti-immigrant agenda.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.His.1.9-12
• C3: D2.Civ.14.9-12

About This Topic

The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s was a fundamentally different organization from its Reconstruction-era predecessor. While the original Klan targeted recently freed Black Americans across the South, the revived organization founded in 1915 expanded its hostility to include Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and anyone deemed a threat to 100 percent Americanism. At its peak around 1924 to 1925, the Klan claimed between three and six million members, with significant strength in Indiana, Ohio, Oregon, and Colorado. This northern and midwestern reach is itself a crucial lesson: the Klan was a national phenomenon, not a southern aberration.

The Klan's resurgence intersected with two reinforcing forces. D.W. Griffith's 1915 film The Birth of a Nation romanticized the original Klan and generated fresh recruitment interest. At the same time, nativist writers like Madison Grant provided pseudo-scientific frameworks for racial hierarchy that lent intellectual cover to organized bigotry. The Klan's political victories were real: the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 used national-origin quotas to drastically reduce immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and virtually eliminate Asian immigration, encoding nativist ideology into federal law.

Active learning works especially well with this topic because the breadth of the Klan's appeal challenges students to think structurally about how hate movements grow, rather than dismissing them as regional or individual failings.

Key Questions

1. Analyze how the KKK of the 1920s differed from its Reconstruction-era form.
2. Explain the reasons for the KKK's widespread appeal and influence beyond the South.
3. Critique the nativist and anti-immigrant sentiments that fueled the KKK's growth.

Learning Objectives

• Compare the organizational structure and targets of the 1920s KKK with its Reconstruction-era predecessor.
• Explain the primary social, economic, and political factors that contributed to the widespread appeal of the 1920s KKK beyond the Southern states.
• Analyze the connection between nativist ideologies, anti-immigrant legislation, and the growth of the KKK in the 1920s.
• Critique the effectiveness of the KKK's nativist agenda in shaping American immigration policy during the 1920s.

Before You Start

Reconstruction Era and the First KKK

Why: Students need foundational knowledge of the original Ku Klux Klan's origins, targets, and activities to understand how the 1920s version differed.

The Progressive Era and Social Reform Movements

Why: Understanding the social and political climate of the early 20th century, including reform efforts and societal tensions, provides context for the KKK's resurgence.

World War I and its Aftermath

Why: The intense nationalism and anxieties following WWI created fertile ground for nativist movements like the KKK.

Key Vocabulary

Nativism	A policy or belief that protects or promotes the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants. In the 1920s, this often meant favoring white, Protestant Americans.
100 Percent Americanism	A nativist slogan popular during and after World War I, promoting extreme patriotism and intolerance toward perceived foreign influences or un-American activities. The KKK adopted this as a core tenet.
Immigration Quota Acts	Federal laws passed in the early 1920s, such as the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, that established national origin quotas to limit immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia.
Social Darwinism	A pseudoscientific theory that applied the concept of 'survival of the fittest' to human societies, often used to justify racial hierarchies and discrimination against certain groups.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

The 1920s KKK was primarily a southern organization.

What to Teach Instead

Indiana had one of the largest Klan memberships of any state, and significant chapters operated in Ohio, Oregon, Colorado, and Michigan. Asking students to map Klan membership data by state before discussing the organization consistently produces surprise and reframes their analysis of where and why the Klan grew.

Common Misconception

Nativist sentiment in the 1920s was a fringe position.

What to Teach Instead

The Immigration Act of 1924 passed with broad congressional support and was championed by mainstream politicians of both parties. Examining the legislative record helps students see that nativism was not a radical fringe position but a mainstream political force that shaped federal law for four decades.

Active Learning Ideas

Gallery Walk: KKK by the Numbers

Post four stations with data: a membership map showing KKK strength by state, peak membership figures by region, a timeline of the Klan's collapse after the 1925 Indiana leadership scandal, and immigration restriction legislation outcomes. Students rotate with a recording sheet noting what surprises them and what patterns they see across stations.

30 min·Pairs

Document Analysis: Nativist Rhetoric Across Eras

Students read excerpts from 1920s nativist arguments, including anti-immigration congressional speeches and KKK publications, and identify the rhetorical strategies used: appeals to fear, selective use of statistics, definitions of American identity. Small groups discuss what anxieties these arguments exploited and how the rhetoric framed belonging and exclusion.

40 min·Small Groups

Structured Discussion: Why Do Hate Movements Spread?

Students read a one-page analysis of the structural conditions that enabled Klan expansion: post-WWI anxiety, rapid urbanization, immigration waves, and the role of media. The class builds a list distinguishing structural conditions from individual prejudice, then discusses the implications for understanding historical and contemporary hate movements.

35 min·Whole Class

Real-World Connections

• Historians studying the rise of extremist groups analyze primary source documents from the 1920s, such as Klan pamphlets and newspaper articles, to understand the rhetoric and recruitment strategies used.
• Librarians and archivists in states like Indiana and Colorado curate collections of local historical records, including membership lists and meeting minutes, to document the KKK's influence on regional politics and social life.
• Policy analysts examining contemporary immigration debates often reference the historical impact of the 1920s Quota Acts to understand the long-term consequences of restrictive immigration policies.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with a Venn diagram template. Ask them to compare and contrast the Reconstruction-era KKK and the 1920s KKK, listing at least two key differences in their targets or geographic reach in each section of the diagram.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the following question to the class: 'Beyond religious or ethnic prejudice, what specific fears or anxieties did the KKK tap into to gain widespread support in the 1920s?' Facilitate a discussion where students connect these fears to the concept of '100 Percent Americanism'.

Quick Check

Present students with three short quotes: one from a nativist writer, one from a KKK supporter, and one from an immigrant group. Ask students to identify which quote best represents nativist sentiment and explain their reasoning in one to two sentences.

Frequently Asked Questions

How was the 1920s KKK different from the original Reconstruction-era Klan?

The original Klan targeted Black Americans in the South to restore white supremacy after emancipation. The 1920s Klan expanded its targets to include Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and anyone perceived as threatening traditional Protestant American values. It was also far larger, claiming millions of members nationwide, and used political lobbying alongside intimidation as tactics.

Where was the KKK most powerful in the 1920s?

While the Klan was active across the country, Indiana was among its strongest states, with an estimated 250,000 members at peak. D.C. Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of Indiana, wielded enormous political influence until a 1925 rape and murder conviction exposed Klan leadership corruption and triggered rapid membership collapse nationally.

What caused the KKK's rapid decline after 1925?

D.C. Stephenson, the Indiana KKK's top leader, was convicted of the rape and murder of Madge Oberholtzer in 1925. When state officials he had helped elect refused to pardon him, he released evidence of widespread corruption involving Klan-affiliated politicians. Membership collapsed within a few years as the organization's moral and political credibility was destroyed.

How can active learning help students understand the appeal of nativist movements?

Structural analysis activities, where students identify the economic, social, and political conditions that enabled Klan growth, help students think beyond individual prejudice to understand how organized bigotry recruits broadly during periods of rapid change. This approach builds transferable analytical tools for understanding similar movements in other historical periods.