In September of 1868 a Ku Klux Klan mob of nearly 300 savagely attacked a newspaper editor and a schoolteacher for ex-slaves in Opelousas, Louisiana. Several of those African-Americans rushed to their aid and in response, Klansmen murdered a number of area blacks, including women and children.

As a result of the public outcry against the savagery, two and a half years later, a Republican congress passes legislation branding the KKK as a terrorist group and outlawing membership in the group.

From the non-partisan, public policy organization The Miller Center:

"On April 19, 1871, at the urging of President Ulysses Grant, Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act. Also known as the third Enforcement Act, the bill was a controversial expansion of federal authority designed to give the federal government additional power to protect voters. The act established penalties in the form of fines and jail time for attempts to deprive citizens of equal protection under the laws and gave the President the authority to use federal troops and suspend the writ of habeas corpus in ensuring that civil rights were upheld.

"Founded as a fraternal organization by Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan soon became a paramilitary group devoted to the overthrow of Republican governments in the South and the reassertion of white supremacy. Through murder, kidnapping, and violent intimidation, Klansmen sought to secure Democratic victories in elections by attacking black voters and, less frequently, white Republican leaders."

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