Reasons the Klan was Revived
- As media and technology began to advance throughout the United States, racism against Blacks, Jews, and Catholics began to spread throughout modern mass media. The film, The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith premiered in 1915, glorifying the First Klan and promoting the excellence it achieved, the idea of the Klu Klux Klan was wildly popular. The Klan during the early 1900's was a distant memory in many peoples heads, and once this film was viewed by thousands upon thousands the Klan was replanted into their minds.
- The case of Leo Frank has also been viewed as a starting point to the revival of the Klan during the 1915's. Leo Frank was a Jewish factory owner who was convicted guilty of sexual crimes and the murder of Mary Phagan, an employee of his in Georgia. However, he was kidnapped by a group of men who called themselves the Knights of Mary Phagan and was lynched due to his religion.
- William Joseph Simmons who was a member of twelve fraternal groups in Georgia saw The Birth of a Nation and was immediately inspired. Since he was greatly disappointed with the fraternal groups he was apart of, he decided to take the action of reviving the Second Klan upon himself. His immediate members consisted of older men who were original members of the Klan in the nineteenth century and members of the Knights of Mary Phagan.