I can provide information on the topics you mentioned:
1. Groups like the KKK formed primarily due to racial animosity and a desire to maintain white supremacy. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded in the aftermath of the American Civil War in 1865 by Confederate veterans. They aimed to intimidate African Americans and prevent them from exercising their newly acquired rights after the abolition of slavery. The KKK used violence, intimidation, and terror tactics to uphold white dominance and control over African Americans and other minority groups.
2. The end of Reconstruction was marked by the Compromise of 1877, which resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. This compromise effectively signaled the end of Reconstruction by allowing Southern states to regain control over their governments without interference from the federal government. As a result, Southern states implemented discriminatory Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans, leading to decades of racial inequality and oppression.
3. The Supreme Court decision for Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896 established the "separate but equal" doctrine, which legalized racial segregation in public facilities such as schools, transportation, and other public places. This decision upheld the constitutionality of segregation laws as long as facilities for black and white people were deemed "equal." However, in reality, these facilities were rarely equal, leading to widespread discrimination and unequal treatment of African Americans. The Plessy vs. Ferguson case further entrenched racial segregation and reinforced the institutionalization of racism in the United States until it was eventually overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.
