1871 LIBERTY SEATED S$1, MOTTO PR65+ Deep Cameo

After an era of intra-country violence that was the Civil War, some southerners took it upon themselves to insight more violence in the wake of their defeat. As with any losing side, those who had to go through the most change were the unhappiest. Not only did several southern states lose their means to economic prosperity, they also were forced to alter their fundamental way of life. As a result, it is clear as to why some southerners who truly believed in white superiority formed groups such as the Ku Klux Klan after the war. The original plan for the society was to intimidate newly freed slaves from exercising their rights and fight against certain Reconstructionist policies. While their intention was to use violence as an intimidation factor, the level of violence quickly got out of hand. In fact, the violence got so out of hand that the original leader, Nathan Bedford Forrest, attempted to shut down the society in 1869 to no avail. Eventually the government had to intervene, as it had already been doing for several years in the south, in daily societal activities. On April 20, 1871 congress passed the Third Action Act, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which allowed president Ulysses S. Grant to enforce Marshall Law in some southern counties that had excessive KKK activity. The intent was to help assimilate and protect people of color while quelling Klan activity. Grant did have to send several militia troops to a number of counties especially in South Carolina and Virginia. His actions essentially helped but Klan activity certainly continued well after the militia was pulled out in 1877.