A secret society founded (1866) in the southern USA after the American Civil War to oppose reconstruction and to maintain White supremacy. Famous for its white robes and hoods, it spread fear among Black people to prevent them voting. Its use as a cover for petty persecution alienated public opinion and led to laws in 1870 and 1871 attempting to suppress it. The Klan reappeared in Georgia in 1915 and during the 1920s spread into the north and mid-west. It was responsible for some 1500 murders by lynching. At its height it boasted four million members and elected high federal and state officials, but it also aroused intense opposition. A series of scandals and internecine rivalries sent it into rapid decline. Klan activity increased during the 1950s and 1960s, as it violently opposed the civil rights movement. It survives at the local level in the southern states and during the early 1990s there was some concern that support for the Klan was increasing.