Ku Klux Klan Essays (2430 words) - Reconstruction Era,

Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan Over the years many people havecreated groups to support their beliefs. These groups allow people with the same ideas to gather together and work out plans to advance their ideas. All of the groups that have been established have not necessarily gained a positive image from the public. One example is the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan originated over one hundred years ago and has gone through many eras and changes since its beginning. Although many people know the Ku Klux Klan exists, they do not understand its purpose or how it has changed throughout its life. After the Civil War ended, the Southern states went through a time known as Reconstruction. Ex-Confederate soldiers had returned home now, and they were still upset about the outcome of the war. It is at this point in time that the Ku Klux Klan became a part of everyday life for many Southerners. In the beginning the Ku Klux Klan was started to be a way for people who had the same views to spend time together. The original members meant of the Ku Klux Klan to be a "hilarious social club" that would be full of aimless fun (Invisible Empire, p.9), though in later years the Ku Klux Klan became known for their violence against people outside the white race and people who associated with them. Contrary to what most people believe, the Ku Klux Klan was started because of a few people wanted to have some innocent fun, not because they were intending to start a chain of violence on anyone outside the white race.(The Klan, p.2) The Ku Klux Klan began in Pulaski, Tennessee, a small town south of Nashville. On the night of December 24, 1865 six ex-confederate soldiers were sitting around a fireplace it the law office of Judge Thomas M. Jones.(Invisible Empire, p.9) These six friends were having a discussion and were trying to come up with an idea to cheer themselves up. One of the men suggested that they should start a club and the rest of the men agreed with the idea. After discussing the mew idea, the men decided to meet again and retired for the night. The second meeting was again at Judge Thomas M. Jones' law office and was attended by the same six men. During this meeting the group decided it need a name. After many hours of deliberating they decided on the name derived from the Greek word kuklos, meaning circle Ku Klux.("Intro. to the Knights of the KKK", p.2) The group later added "Klan" to the word to make the phrase complete. At this time the group decided what to call the different ranks of the members, starting with the leader, the Grand Cyclops, all the way down to the ghouls, or members of no rank. When the men had finished organizing, they were overjoyed about their group, and they decided to show everyone their creation. The members wrapped themselves and their horses in sheet and rode through the small town and terrified everyone, especially Negroes. No doubt, this is the harmless little club that later would be taken to extremes by its members. Admittedly, the Ku Klux Klan did become out of control in later years, but when it was first created it had no specific meaning; it was a way just to have fun. After the members saw the effect the group's appearance had on people, they began to use the results to their advantage. Because the Klan resembled ghost, many of the citizens of Pulaski believed them to be dead soldiers of the Confederate Army when they saw them riding on their horses through the small town. While Negroes were busy avoiding the Ku Klux Klan, its purpose changed. The Ku Klux Klan began aiming its violent actions toward Negroes, Jews, Orientals, and various other members of society that did not belong to the white race. Although violence was already occurring against non-whites before the organization of the Ku Klux Klan, the Klan used this fact as a way to keep their "enemies" under control. No one denies that the Ku Klux Klan became a brutal force over the years, but the fact remains that violence was not the reason the group was founded. It is true that all groups and club must go through changes, but many changes of the changes which the Ku Klux Klan endured were not necessarily the best for everyone. Shortly after the Ku Klux Klan's first ride, its members began to cause a major impact on society. Many

Regretfull stage in life

Regretfull stage in life Three years ago I made a mistake, which brought me a lot of trouble, distrust, and disappointment. It all started when a big famous music artist got a piercing on his lip and after that it became big fashion all around the world, and for me it was something cool but forbidden. In my freshmen year I knew a friend in my grade that had a couple of piercing's, and I once told him that I wanted one in my lip, he said that the person who gave him the piercing was his brother who had a famous tattoo and piercing shop, and if I wanted one he could hook me up and give me one for free. After what he had supposed I started to think, but not thoroughly, and one day I made the decision to get a piercing without permission and hide it from my parents which was not going to work but I did not care.Girl with a Lego earringThe day when I got my piercing, it was a school day; so right after school my friend and I went to his brother's place. When we got there I saw that it was a very clean place, it w as decorated in a very neat and simple way, one of the things that caught my attention a lot, is that there was a lot of diplomas hanging on the walls for piercing and tattoos, I dint know they gave diplomas for that type of things. My friend introduced me to his brother he was a nice guy, and he asked me what size of earring I wanted, I chose one, and he placed it in a antibacterial liquid. While I was waiting, I was sitting in a big dentist stile chair and I stated getting second regret thoughts, but...

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - Term Paper Example A striking aspect of the story is the non-linear plot structure employed by the author. The story is divided into four compact parts. Chronologically they are arranged in this fashion – 2,1,3,4 – which means the background information about Farquhars allegiance to the confederate cause is placed next to the event of his hanging by Union soldiers. The last two parts are chronologically in the right places, and it is in the crisp and concise fourth part that we learn that the whole of preceding narrative were the final hallucinatory thoughts of Peyton Farquhar. The material for the thesis is contained in the third part which was only a matter of few minutes but takes up a large chunk of the narrative. This is deliberate on part of the author, for he is trying to show to the reader that there is so much life contained in each passing second. The author is also hinting that we mostly dont enjoy our lives to the fullest, probably because our attention is being diverted from really important things in life like family and children and toward superficial things like status, wealth accumulation, etc. (Powers, 1982, p.280) By showing to the readers that so much drama could be contained in a brief period of time, Bierce is suggesting that there is a great scope for happiness and enjoyment during human lifetime which we dont realize in the normal course. The high-adrenaline condition created by the thought of approaching mortality had taken Peytons imagination to a surreal zone. In this state of mind, the small hopeful signs of his escape from death looks magnified and magnificent. His powers of perception and the intake of sensory stimuli were taken to new heights. For example, â€Å"He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the