The Rest Is History – Episode 656: The Ku Klux Klan: Birth of a Nation (Part 3) Original Air Date: March 29, 2026 | Hosts: Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook

Overview

In this gripping deep dive, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook unpack the rise of the "Second Ku Klux Klan" in the early 20th century. They explore how the Klan evolved from a secretive paramilitary group in the Reconstruction South to a mass-membership, fraternal, and political powerhouse dominating states far beyond its Southern origins. This episode is rich with historical context, analysis of American social anxieties, the Klan’s bizarre rituals and structure, and the chilling mechanisms of its respectability and violence. The hosts chart how this movement was fueled by nostalgia, mass entertainment, and cunning business tactics, painting a vivid – and unsettling – portrait of America in the 1920s.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The "Creed" and Contradictions of the Second Klan

• Opening Reading: The episode starts with a dramatic reading of the Klan's 1922 "Kloran" (their constitution) to set the tone ([01:59]).
  • "We avow the distinction between the races of mankind as decreed by the Creator and we shall ever be true to the maintenance of white supremacy..." (Tom, quoting the Kloran, [01:59])
• Linguistic Oddities: The Klan's use of faux-medieval language and weird mashups of Latin and Gothic is lampooned for being both sinister and absurd. ("None Silber Sed Anthar... Apparently it's a mixture of Latin and Gothic, and you can't go mixing Latin and Gothic." – Tom, [03:50])

2. The Second Klan: Different from the First ([05:26] onward)

• Membership & Structure: Unlike the original Klan, the second wave (founded 1915, peaked post-WWI) was:
  • A mass movement (2-5 million members) operating publicly, with parades, picnics, and massive political influence in states like Indiana, Oregon, Texas, and Colorado ([05:46]).
  • Organized more like the Freemasons than a secret terrorist cell, with overlapping and sometimes rival membership.
  • Targets shifted from primarily Black Southerners to a broader anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic focus – aimed at defending "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) supremacy.

3. Story Origin: Fiction, Film, and Fanaticism

• Origins in Literature: The Second Klan's roots are traced to Thomas Dixon, a Southern preacher, novelist, and friend of President Woodrow Wilson.
  • His 1905 book The Klansman romanticized the Klan as heroic redeemers of the South ([12:11]).
  • These narratives encoded intense racism and became popular both as literature and stage plays, although they provoked protests even at the time ([14:04]).
• Cinematic Catalyst: D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) is credited as the most influential film ever made, "the foundational film in the history of cinema" ([15:19]).
  • Its racist, mythologized depiction of the Klan inspired public adulation, copycat rituals (especially cross-burnings), and had the endorsement of President Wilson, who called it (possibly apocryphally) “history written with lightning” ([18:46]).
  • Tom reflects: "It is amazing that the two great epics of American cinema in the first half of the 20th century, this and Gone with the Wind... [both] promoting this kind of fantasy of the Civil War and its aftermath" ([16:53]).

4. William Simmons and Klan "Fraternalism" ([21:38] onward)

• Simmons' Motivations: William Joseph Simmons, the founder of the second Klan, was a failed preacher and professional club-joiner, more interested in status and money than violence or ideology ([22:03]).
• America as a Nation of Clubs: The fraternal mania of the early 20th-century U.S. provided ripe ground for Klan recruitment; hosts joke about the proliferation of clubs with “mad names” ([23:03]), such as the Knights of Pythias or the Odd Fellows ([23:40]).
• The Klan as Business and Pyramid Scheme:
  • Simmons copied the film’s theatrics and costumes for maximum spectacle, copyrighting the Klan’s rules to profit ([25:01]).
  • Organization is explained as a multi-level marketing operation, with sinisterly comic titles: Grand Goblin (regional head), King Kleagle (state head), Kleagles (local recruiters), and the Imperial Wizard (Simmons himself). An aggressive sales and recruitment campaign was orchestrated by PR professionals Edward Young Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler ([34:25]).
    • “There are nine domains and each one is headed by a regional manager who is called the Grand Goblin… and Clark from the PR team, he runs the whole sales operation. He is the Imperial Kleagle and… Simmons, the owner, who is called the Imperial Wizard.” (Dominic, [34:28])

5. Rituals, Costumes, and Social Ladder ([37:12] onward)

• Initiation Ceremonies: New members (“Klavens”) underwent elaborate rituals involving burning crosses, prayer, and pledges to “white supremacy” as well as other, more innocuous, American ideals ([37:31]).
• Bizarre Hierarchy: The escalating titles border on parody: from Exalted Cyclops to the Knight of the Midnight Mystery, the Great Nighthawk, and weekly “Clonclets” ([39:31]).
  • “They’re having a laugh.” (Tom, [39:58])
• Community Role: Despite the farcical trappings, membership provided real social capital and networking opportunities among respectable local elites, notably Methodist ministers and professionals ([41:05], [44:32]).

6. The Klan’s Respectability, Political Influence, and Appeal ([41:58] onward)

• Salesmanship and Mass Appeal: Clarke and Tyler’s genius was to market the Klan as a patriotic, Protestant, anti-vice, all-American community, rapidly recruiting through local churches and social anxiety.
  • “They approach the Klan as a sales and marketing operation. The Klan is a business. Simmons is the owner. He’s hired them. They have only one job and that is to get new customers. And they’re brilliant at it.” (Dominic, [33:45])
• Who Joined? Not fringe losers, but respectable, middle-class, white Protestants – doctors, ministers, dentists, and so on.
• Methodist Ministers: 40,000 Methodist clergy joined, many elevated to local chaplain ranks (“clods”) and facilitating mass admissions through church events ([44:52]).
• Political Clout: At its peak, the Klan wielded major political influence, even endorsing and electing senators, governors, and state officials, especially in Indiana, Oregon, and Texas ([46:41], [66:48]).

7. The "Dark Turn": Violence, Vigilantism, and Prohibition ([42:56] onward)

• Outward Respectability, Inward Rage: Despite its image as a law-abiding, civic-minded club, the Klan orchestrated and condoned violence and terror.
• Targets:
  • Lesser focus on targeting African Americans (compared to the original Klan) – most notoriously, the 1921 Tulsa Massacre was not a Klan operation ([49:43]).
  • Core obsessions: anti-Catholicism (“the Pope is leading a conspiracy”), anti-Semitism, anti-immigrant fervor, enforcing “morality” including zeal for Prohibition ([50:04] - [54:46]).
• Prohibition as a Rallying Cause: Prohibition united Klan members more than any other single issue ([57:05]).
  • “If you took Prohibition out of this story, the Klan would never have been so successful.” (Dominic, [54:59])
  • Klan acted as morality police, beating and terrorizing “immoral” locals, Catholics, bootleggers, and even women or children considered deviant ([59:14]).
  • “They kidnapped a doctor… stripped him, beat him, hanged him till he passed out… then beat him again.” (Dominic, [59:41])
  • “Over time, groups of Klansmen will not just enforce prohibition, they will target, and I quote, negligent parents, defiant children and unfaithful spouses.” (Dominic, [59:16])

8. Scandals, Violence, and the Limits of Respectability ([61:58] onward)

• Notable Scandals:
  • Klan publicists Clark and Tyler, champions of "morality," were caught in a seedy hotel with a bottle of whiskey ([62:22]).
• Violent Reigns of Terror:
  • Klan vigilantes infiltrated law enforcement and local government, shielding perpetrators from prosecution.
  • Example: Goose Creek, Texas. Klansmen broke into a home, dragged out two respectable townsfolk, flayed them, hacked off hair, poured crude oil on wounds. Only external law enforcement, not local “respectables,” managed to break the silence ([69:48]-[71:19]).
  • “Is it the respectable people…who are donating to rescue the children’s home, or is it the reign of terror and the pouring of crude oil over open wounds?” (Dominic, [72:12])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Klan’s Language:
  "It ends up sounding like something from, I don't know, Star–Return of the Phantom Menace or something."
  – Tom, [02:59]

• On Influence by Film:
  “Fantasy creating reality. It is. It’s total cosplaying. It is complete cosplaying.”
  – Dominic, [28:14]

• On the Scope of Klan Membership:
  “In Oregon in the mid-1920s, the majority of all public elected officials are members of the Klan.”
  – Dominic, [06:22]

• On Bizarre Fraternal Titles:
  “The head of the Claven is the Exalted Cyclops.”
  – Dominic, [39:31]

• On Respectability and Violence:
  “Which is the true face of it? Is it the respectable people who are donating to rescue the children’s home? Or is it the reign of terror and the pouring of crude oil over open wounds?”
  – Dominic, [72:12]

• On Prohibition’s Importance:
  “If you took Prohibition out of this story, the Klan would never have been so successful.”
  – Dominic, [54:59]

• On Historical Parallels:
  “Very Fu Manchu. Yeah, exactly. That yellow peril, you know, it's completely of that early 20th century anxiety…”
  – Dominic, [48:27]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:59] – Dramatic reading of the Klan’s 1922 “Kloran”/Constitution
• [05:26] – Outlining the differences between the First and Second Klan
• [09:08] – The role of Thomas Dixon and The Klansman
• [15:17] – Birth of a Nation: The film that inspired the Klan’s rebirth
• [21:38] – William Simmons and the club mania of early 20th-century America
• [34:25] – The Klan as an aggressive, profit-driven sales operation: roles and titles
• [37:12] – Rituals, costumes, and the 'social ladder' of Klan membership
• [41:58] – Marketing and respectability: the Klan’s political and social rise
• [42:56] – The Klan’s “dark turn”: violence, vigilantism, scapegoats
• [54:59] – Why Prohibition was existential for the Klan
• [61:58] – Scandals, press exposure, and congressional hearings
• [69:48] – The chilling reign of terror in Goose Creek, Texas

Tone and Style

The hosts blend analysis, sharp skepticism, and often biting humor with a strong sense of moral clarity about the Klan’s dangers and ridiculousness. They balance mockery of the Klan's absurd trappings with sober reflection on its social and political menace, making the podcast both highly informative and deeply engaging.

Conclusion & What’s Next

Dominic teases that the story will continue with the Klan’s further expansion, internal conflicts, and one of the strangest murder scandals in American history, to be explored in the next (club-exclusive) episode.

For listeners seeking an in-depth understanding of the 1920s Ku Klux Klan, this episode is essential. The hosts expertly untangle myth from fact, expose structural racism’s roots in American “respectability,” and show how mass entertainment, business, and political anxiety shaped a movement with consequences lasting to the present.