Throughline – “The Man Who Took On The Klan”

NPR | Airdate: February 5, 2026
Hosts: Rund Abdelfatah & Ramtin Arablouei
Guests: Bernard Powers, Kidada Williams, Guy Gugliotta

Episode Overview

This episode of Throughline explores the intense battle between the newly formed U.S. Department of Justice and the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, focusing especially on Amos Ackerman, the Attorney General who led the federal charge against the Klan’s reign of terror in South Carolina in the early 1870s. Through survivor testimonies, historical analysis, and dramatic retellings, the episode examines the aftermath of emancipation, the struggle for Black freedom, the resurgence of white supremacy, and both the promise— and limits — of federal intervention during Reconstruction.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reconstruction’s Fragile Peace & Black Aspirations (07:07–12:40)

• Emancipation brought a “vague and amorphous” freedom. Black Southerners faced tough decisions: reuniting families, securing homes and education, and bargaining for fair labor.
  • “First you go find your loved ones who were sold away from you.” (Kidada Williams, 10:39)
• For Black Carolinians, freedom was a hard-won but resolutely contested reality, with the legal end of slavery quickly shadowed by organized resistance.

Notable Quotes

“We were free. Just like that. We were free.” — Robert Falls, formerly enslaved, NC (08:32)

“The master says we are all free, but it don’t mean we as white, and it don’t mean we as equal.” — George King, formerly enslaved, SC (11:22)

2. Rise of White Supremacy and the Klan (16:02–17:41)

• The Klan, founded in 1866, advanced from “pranks” to full-blown terror, triggered by Black political participation.
• The surge in Black voter registration (from 1% to 80% in 1867) and Black officeholding, especially in South Carolina, instigated unprecedented backlash.
  • “Rather than accept Black political rule, they turned to violence.” (Kidada Williams, 18:37)

Memorable Moment

Congressional testimonies (like those recounting Tom Rountree's murder, 00:39–04:13, 18:47–19:19) revive the horror and fear inflicted by the Klan's campaign.

3. The Federal Response: Amos Ackerman and the Department of Justice (04:55–15:12, 24:01–25:17)

• Amos T. Ackerman, a surprising figure: a former Confederate and slaveholder, now appointed Attorney General.
• Ackerman prioritized Klan prosecutions, believing in the supremacy of law, even above prior loyalties:
  • “We were content that [slavery] should go to the grave in which slavery had been buried.” (Bernard Powers, 14:41)
• The Enforcement Acts, and particularly the Ku Klux Klan Act (April 1871), gave teeth to federal prosecution of racial terror.

Notable Quotes

“He comes in and he's interested in one thing. He's interested in getting rid of the Ku Klux Klan.” — Guy Gugliotta (05:22)

“Some action by Congress is desirable, and that action should be founded upon the power which Congress possesses under the 14th Amendment.” — Ackerman testimony (23:16)

• Ackerman’s outsider status surprised Washington: “At this time, Ackerman was a stranger to the national stage. Nobody knew his name, and he had fought for the Confederacy.” (Rund Abdelfatah, 24:17)

4. Crackdown in South Carolina: Investigations and Trials (35:03–39:59)

• Army officer Lewis Merrill led investigations in York County, rounding up and arresting dozens of Klan members, often on the strength of Black residents’ testimony and confessions by terrified Klansmen.
  • “Merrill’s people, the cavalry, are just riding through York County, just pulling people in by the dozen.” — Guy Gugliotta (36:44)
• The resulting trials in Columbia, SC, featured mostly Black juries. The prosecution hoped to use these cases to define the 14th Amendment’s power and prosecute Klan crimes as violations of civil rights.

Courtroom Testimony Highlight

“Jim Williams wife Rose just describes in detail exactly what happened...walked out into the woods and hung from a pine tree. And this courtroom is just absolutely silent.” — Guy Gugliotta (41:17)

5. Political Resistance, Ackerman’s Dismissal & The Limits of Justice (40:49–47:55)

• Judges hesitated to broadly expand federal powers, so cases focused on conspiracy to obstruct Black voting.
• Despite early successes (approx. 140 convictions), President Grant and Congress soon lost appetite for aggressive enforcement. Ackerman was pressured out over political and business interests.
  • “He became more and more militant as time went on. By the time these trials took place, he was regarded as the most radical member of the Cabinet.” (Guy Gugliotta, 41:40)
  • “Sir, I hereby resign the office of Attorney General...” (Ackerman, 43:02)

Aftermath and Federal Withdrawal

• Grant issued blanket pardons. Most Klan players evaded serious consequences or melted back into local life—white terror persisted, even if the Klan “folded its tents.”

“For all of the people who are arrested, hardly anyone does time. And a lot of that is because of the local communities and ongoing resistance to Black people being free, equal, and secure...” — Kidada Williams (44:44)

6. Legacy: Did Federal Action Succeed or Fail? (47:55–50:22)

• Black political representation was systematically dismantled by violence and new Jim Crow laws post-Reconstruction.
• North and West gradually turned away, unwilling to marshal federal power for Black civil rights.

“I would have to judge the KKK investigations and trials a failure. What they showed, I think unequivocally, is that the federal government was not really willing to marshal the full power...to eradicate white terrorism in the South.” — Bernard Powers (48:30)

“The federal government could have acted. They chose not to. And they chose not to because the larger white American public did not want them to.” — Kidada Williams (49:48)

Memorable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On freedom that followed emancipation:

  • “We were free. Just like that. We were free.” — Robert Falls (08:32)

• On Reconstruction’s promise:

  • “They decided that if they were free, they could labor in whatever way they [chose].” — Bernard Powers (11:05)

• On the nature of white resistance:

  • “White Southerners coming out of the Civil War...might fear that black people are going to attack them. There is a sense of what will they do to us after what we have done to them.” — Kidada Williams (15:17)

• On the fragility of justice:

  • “Carrying this flag was an increasingly difficult labor.” — Guy Gugliotta, on the loss of Radical Republican will (44:17)

• On the judgment of history:

  • “What happens over time is the memories of the war and what it was about...begin to fade.” — Bernard Powers (47:55)

Segment Timestamps

• 00:39–04:13: Survivor and witness testimony of Klan murder (Tom Rountree) in York County, SC
• 07:07–12:40: Black hopes and efforts after emancipation—reunion, education, economic independence
• 16:02–17:41: Origins, motivations and early activities of the Klan; the backlash to Black political success
• 23:16–24:44: Ackerman’s constitutional arguments & appointment as Attorney General
• 27:22–29:09: The murder of Jim Williams, Black militia leader
• 30:15–31:53: The Enforcement Acts and federal efforts to hold the Klan accountable
• 35:03–37:18: Lewis Merrill’s investigations and mass arrests
• 38:09–39:59: Klan trials in Columbia; focus on constitutional rights
• 41:02–41:17: Rose Williams’ chilling testimony about her husband’s lynching
• 42:39–43:21: Ackerman forced to resign; political and business pressures trump justice
• 45:07–47:00: White terrorism continues; Jim Crow ascends
• 47:55–50:22: Assessing the failure of the Klan trials and Reconstruction’s end

Takeaways

• Federal civil rights enforcement had early momentum against white supremacist terror, but ultimately proved fleeting in the face of deep-seated political resistance and waning Northern will.
• Although Amos Ackerman and the early DOJ made history by targeting the Klan, the limited results presaged over a century of struggle for civil rights and the enduring legacy of Reconstruction’s incomplete promises.
• History is shaped not just by laws or charismatic leaders, but by the willingness—or unwillingness—of the nation to back up its ideals with sustained action.

For more perspectives, listen to the full episode or explore further resources on Reconstruction and its aftermath.