On this day, December 24, in 1865

After Civil War ended and slavery was abolished, six confederate veterans gathered together in Pulaski, Tennessee and created the original Ku Klux Klan. The KKK quickly spread through the South and launched a violent 'reign of terror' against freed slaves and supporters of the Reconstruction. The violent crimes committed by the KKK were rarely challenged by the state, and when they were, the all-white juries were unlikely to convict. Only two years later, the Klan began to die down and didn't gain much power again until 1915 when it reappeared with a newfound force. This second KKK was much more organized and was able to carry out its homophobic, xenophobic, white supremacist agenda for years to come.