With the rate of black participation in Southern politics increasing rapidly, the Ku Klux Klan sought to retard that growth through violent practices. Douglas Parks, a minister of the NAACP who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in one of his speeches sketched a broad picture of the extent to which the Klan was willing to go to: "They said there were billy clubs, but they didn't say those billy clubs were wrapped in barb wires too."
The action of the Klan lead to certain reactions from the US Government that produced a history-changing effect. Going into deeper analysis, the amplified violence of the KKK, as we have analyzed, can be largely attributed to the deindividuation effect. Thus we can reasonably assume there is a connection between the psychological phenomenon and how history has evolved.
The Justice of Department, under the pressure of social unrest partly caused by the Klan, was established in 1870. It reported on the threat of war brought about by the action of the KKK, and moved to permit the use of federal troops. However, it was not very effective.
The various lynchings taking place all over the South played a major role in suppressing the recognition of black social and political rights. The fear of being lynched hindered the much needed social revolution that would eventually lead to equal rights. The KKK together with the white "redeemers" prolonged the process of eliminating the white supremacy notion and obstructed the path to equality of all African Americans.
In the end, Reconstruction failed, with the horrific shadow of unquenchable violence brought about by the KKK playing a definite role.
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