Originally founded at the end of the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist group that uses violence and intimidation in order to reassert white domination in the United States. The Klan's attacks have been directed at Blacks, Jews, Catholics, immigrants and other minority groups. It has long been notorious for its use of white robes and hoods, and the burning of large crosses at its gatherings.

The Ku Klux Klan is perhaps the most famous of all hate groups in America. Even without extensive knowledge of its history or views, many Americans recognize the unmistakable symbols of the KKK -- the robe, the hood, and the burning cross.

Although there have always been different branches of the KKK, all of them have held a common goal: to maintain the supremacy of the white race over Black Americans. While membership in the Klan has risen and fallen during its 130 year history, the scope of its hatred has expanded, adding Jews, Catholics, homosexuals, and immigrants.

The KKK was born on Christmas Eve, 1865, when six Confederate soldiers, just out of uniform, met in Pulaski, Tennessee, to form a secret fraternal order. Deriving its name from the Greek word "kuklos"(circle), the organization was originally social in nature. Soon, however, the group began terrorizing Blacks by raiding their homes at night while wearing white sheets (their horses were sometimes clad in sheets as well).

While the Klan grew larger, it was hurt by fighting between competing factions, financial troubles, and congressional and legal investigations. In the 1870s, the KKK was all but destroyed.

However, after more than 40 years of inactivity, the "Invisible Empire," as the Klan called itself, rose again in the autumn of 1915. Within a decade, the movement had reached the height of its power: no longer merely a southern organization, it became a national phenomenon. Several prominent politicians, including governors, senators, and congressmen were active Klan leaders. Overall Klan membership reached between four and five million during this period (mid-1920s).

However, the Klan experienced another round of internal disputes, financial gaffes, and legal probes, and its membership and influenced dropped significantly until the mid-1950s.

Spurred on by racial desegregation and the start of the civil rights struggle, Klan activity was on the rise again by 1956, with units springing up in several states. The group terrified Blacks and white civil rights workers with cross burnings, beatings, bombings, death threats, even murder.

Klan membership has been in steady decline since the mid-eighties. The combined membership of all Klans today, including splinter groups, is 2500-3000, due largely to disputes among Klan leaders, its failure to recruit younger extremists, strong law enforcement, and litigation brought by civil rights groups that has bankrupted Klan treasuries.