Jessica Martinez

Thesis Statement:

Useful Quotes: 1.)Oregon blue book 2.)Encyclopedia 3.)Video 4.)Textbook 5.) Offbeat Oregon history
6.) Constitution 7.)Roaring with the 20's

I. Short introduction to the Ku Klux Klan

a. How they came to be
c. Attitudes of people in that era and Beliefs of the Klan

2.) “Oregon commoners nonviolent farmers.”

1.) Pg 348, 4th paragraph The “Oregon question” “The arrival of overland emigrates in 1842, and the
increase of retired trappers who settled in the Willamette valley with their mixed- blood families
complicated matters, old settlers and new arrivals worried about their land claims.”

2.)PG 218 “Return of the Ku Klux Klan” (BACKGROUND INFO) KKK wanted to restrict immigration.
Threats and violence to African Americans, Jews, Catholics, Immigrates, anyone that goes against
“Americas White Protestant civilization.” The Klan was progressing in 1924 close to 4 million as it
spread beyond the south into the north and west. (Oregon)

2.)Racism, religious bigotry, and anti-immigrant sentiments were deeply entrenched in the laws, culture,
and social life of Oregon, and few Oregonians questioned the Klan's doctrines of white supremacy,
Protestantism, and "One-Hundred Per Cent Americanism."

5.)“Ours is not an anti-organization of any kind,” Powell in character as king Kleagle, said. “we are not
anti-Japanese, or anti-jew, or anti-(balck), or anti-catholic, or anti anything else. It is simply that the US
has not any American secret fraternal organization, and we are going to supply that need. The fact that we
limit membership does not mean anything against the people we bar. They have their own organizations,
membership in which is barred to us. “

7)Ironically, the Klan was both a reaction to and a product of the new mass culture of the 1920s. Its
resurgence was sparked by Hollywood's first feature film, D.W. Griffith's 1915 "The Birth of a Nation,"
which romanticized Klansmen as defenders of traditional values.

II. Provisional Oregon (1846)

A. How nonwhite individuals were treated
b. What was happening in this time to America and how it affected the Klan

1.)“The provisional Legislature banned permanent residency of free African-Americans and mulattoes.
Any reaching age 18 had two years to leave the Oregon County, as did anyone in slavery. The initial
penalty for failure to leave was not less than 20 nor more than 39 lashes. In 1844 the legislature amended
the law to put violators out to low bid for public labor and removal. The law, though never enforced,
confirmed the racial prejudice of the frontier generation moving into the Willamette Valley.”
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1.)PG 358 first paragraph of MIONORITIES: The welcome mat was not out. The land and resources
were the domain of men and women of Caucasian background: others need not apply. African Americans
were unequivocally not wanted.

5.) Luther Powell in 1921 (from Louisiana) crossed the border from California to Oregon to recruit new
members for the newly resurgent KKK.

III. Territorial Oregon (1848-1857)

A. What was happening in this time to America and how it affected the Klan
b. Draft constitution, how it was racist

6.)Article 1 Section 31.-White foreigners who are, or may hereafter become residents of this State
shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and descent of property as
native born citizens. And the Legislative Assembly shall have power to restrain, and regulate the
immigration to this State of persons not qualified to become citizens of the United States.

6.)Article I Section 35.-- No free negro, or mulatto, not residing in this State at the time of the adoption of
this Constitution, shall come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate, or make any contracts,
or maintain any suit therein; and the Legislative Assembly shall provide by penal laws, for the removal,
by public officers, of all such negroes, and mulattoes, and for their effectual exclusion from the State, and
for the punishment of persons who shall bring them into the state, or employ, or harbor them. (Repealed
November 3, 1926).

6.)Article 11 Section 6.--No Negro, Chinaman, or Mulatto shall have the right of suffrage. (Repealed
June28, 1927).

6.)Article XVIII, the "Schedule," gave the voters of Oregon (about 10,000 at the time) three
questions to answer when they went to the polls in 1857 to approve the Constitution. Sec. 2 of
that original Article XVIII provided as follows: "Sec. 2. Each elector who offers to vote upon this
Constitution, shall be asked by the judges of election this question: Do you vote for the
Constitution? Yes, or No. And also this question: Do you vote for Slavery in Oregon? Yes, or No.
And also this question: Do you vote for free Negroes in Oregon? Yes, or No.

IV. Statehood (1859)

a. Constitution against race
b. reflect on attitudes of protestant white people/ their dedication to religion
c. Ku Klux Klan was not super violent

1.)Pg 355 STATEHOOD Dread Scott 1857 Supreme Court withhold African Americans from being
citizens. Pg 358 MINORITES The Census of 850 reported either 54 or 56 African-Americans In the
entire Pacific Northwest. The census of 1860 identified 124 blacks and mulattoes.

7.) In less than two years, the Klan recruited 14,000 members in Oregon, giving it perhaps the highest
per-capita membership in the country. And in the 1922 election, it succeeded in unseating Congressman
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Clifton McArthur and Olcott, and electing a new governor, two Multnomah County commissioners and a
slate of state legislators. It also helped pass a nationally notorious initiative aimed at putting Catholic
schools out of business.

Ironically, the Klan was both a reaction to and a produc

V. KKK Role in Oregon government

a. How it affected voting of the people
b. how kkk members manipulated laws
c. How the kkk was smart enough to know to accesses the government?

2.)The Klan's appeals to morality and patriotism initially masked the reality: the political intrigue and
social conflict and the loyalty to the Klan that transcended political party affiliations. In 1922, Klansmen
won election to local and county offices throughout Oregon, and some Klansmen won seats in the state
legislature. The Klan helped elect LaGrande Democrat Walter M. Pierce as governor and played a
significant role in passing an initiative measure requiring all children eight to sixteen years of age to
attend public schools. While targeting Roman Catholics, the compulsory school bill would have
eliminated other private and denominational schools.

VI. KKK nonviolent in Oregon

a. Compared to the south Oregon KKK was not very violent
b. The klans influence on social and cultural life was greater than its political and violent successes

2,)The Klan's influence on social and cultural life was more damaging and longer lasting than its political
successes. The Oregon Klan had its share of charlatans and characters, but the overwhelming majority of
members were ordinary Oregonians who represented a cross-section of their communities. Few members
engaged in violence. Many local Klans strengthened fraternal bonds by organizing bands, baseball teams,
family picnics, and charitable activities. But members also used the Klan to impose their moral and
cultural beliefs on other Oregonians, often splintering communities, churches, and social organizations

5.)“As large gangs of anonymous vigilantes go, the Klan was remarkably mild-mannerd in Southern
Oregon.

1.)PG. 359 Paragraph 3: The Local newspaper observed that the lynch mob was “quiet and orderly” and
that the vigilante proceeding was no “unnecessary disturbance of the peace.”

5.)“Stories of Klan violence are largely false, [the King Kleagle] insisted, 'However, 'he said, 'there are
some cases of course in which we will have to take everything into our hands. Some crimes are not
punishable under existing laws, but the criminals should be punished.”

VII. Modern Ku Klux Klan in Oregon

a. How they affect today
b. what in today affects them
c. How they affect today’s government
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3.) “The only way to cure a catholic is to kill him” Grand Cyclops of Portland

VIII. Conclusion
a.
b.
c.