Final answer:
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) originated as a fraternal organization but evolved into a terrorist group targeting African Americans and their allies. While it claimed to have disbanded at one point, it continued to exist in various forms. The KKK's decline started in the 1920s due to scandals and internal issues, but it took government enforcement measures to suppress it.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded in 1866 as an oath-bound fraternal order in Tennessee, with Nathan Bedford Forrest as its first leader. Initially, it started as a fraternal organization for Confederate veterans but later evolved into a vigilante terrorist group that used violence and intimidation against African Americans and their white supporters. While the organization claimed to have disbanded under Forrest's leadership, it continued to exist in different forms, and its influence persisted through the late 1920s and 1930s. However, it declined significantly in the mid-1920s due to scandals, internal issues, and investigations into its finances.
The KKK's downfall was not complete until the enforcement of the U.S. government's measures against their violent activities, passing the Enforcement Acts between 1870 and 1871. These acts criminalized the deprivation of civil rights for African Americans and allowed the use of U.S. troops to protect freedpeople. By 1876, as the Southern Democrats regained power, federal opposition to the KKK weakened, and attention shifted away from the group, but racial discrimination persisted.