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Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of several past and present organizations in the United States that have advocated white supremacy, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, racism, homophobia, anti-Communism and nativism. These organizations have often used terrorism, violence, and acts of intimidation, such as cross burning and lynching, to oppress African Americans and other social or ethnic groups.

Founded by veterans of the Confederate Army in 1866, the Klan's main purpose was to resist Reconstruction and its focus was as much on intimidating "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags" as on putting down the freed slaves. Southern elites saw the Klan as an excuse for federal troops to continue their activities in the South. Already in decline, the organization was destroyed in the early 1870s by President Ulysses S. Grant's vigorous action under the Civil Rights Act of 1871.

In 1915, the film The Birth of a Nation and the sensationalized newspaper coverage of the trial, conviction and lynching of Leo Frank of Georgia sparked the Klan's revival. At its peak in the mid-1920s, the organization included about 15% of the nation's eligible population, approximately 4–5 million men. The second KKK is known for preaching racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Communism, nativism, anti-Semitism and ceremonial cross burning. Some local groups took part in lynchings and other violent activities. The Klan's popularity fell during the Great Depression, and membership fell further during World War II because of scandals resulting from prominent members' crimes and its support of Nazi Germany.