--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By 1872, under Grant’s leadership, the Ku…" description: "\"“By 1872, under Grant’s leadership, the Ku Klux Klan had been smashed in the South. (Its later twentieth-century incarnation had no connection to the e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ff/ron-chernow-1189_klan_by-1872-under-grant-s-leadership-the-ku_1002402.jpg" --- # By 1872, under Grant’s leadership, the Ku Klux Klan had… ![“By 1872, under Grant’s leadership, the Ku Klux Klan had been smashed in the South. (Its later twentieth-century incarnation had no connection to the earlier group other than a common style and ideology.)” quote by Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ff/ron-chernow-1189_klan_by-1872-under-grant-s-leadership-the-ku_1002402.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ff/ron-chernow-1189_klan_by-1872-under-grant-s-leadership-the-ku_1002402.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ff/ron-chernow-1189_klan_by-1872-under-grant-s-leadership-the-ku_1002402.jpg) > ““By 1872, under Grant’s leadership, the Ku Klux Klan had been smashed in the South. (Its later twentieth-century incarnation had no connection to the earlier group other than a common style and ideology.)”” [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The early Klan was dismantled, but later versions revived similar hate under different guises. **In simple terms:** History repeats with new faces. Key Takeaway Learn from past failures to prevent recurrence. Themes history racism politics legacy social movements Mood somber analytical Type historical educational When to use this quote - civil rights activism - policy reform - education campaigns Key Concepts white supremacy reconstruction ideological continuity Questions to Reflect On - What lessons can contemporary movements draw from past failures? - How do symbols evolve over time? A Different Perspective Modern groups may claim different motives, complicating direct comparisons. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ku klux klan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ku-klux-klan/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ## Related quotes > [“the Ku Klux Klan Act. He had planned a California trip that spring, but canceled it in the belief that he couldn’t sidestep this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-ku-klux-klan-act-he-had-planned-a-california-trip-that-spring-but/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [Clay is so young and has been misled by the wrong people... He might as well have joined the Ku Klux Klan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-patterson/clay-is-so-young-and-has-been-misled-by-the-wrong-people-he-might-as/) [Floyd Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-patterson/) > [It was headquartered in Michigan City, a long way off. I never saw Ku Klux Klan march.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/it-was-headquartered-in-michigan-city-a-long-way-off-i-never-saw-ku/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [As a matter of social class Ku Klux Klan would have been regarded as white trash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/as-a-matter-of-social-class-ku-klux-klan-would-have-been-regarded-as/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [It's not appropriate to joke about the Ku Klux Klan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/it-s-not-appropriate-to-joke-about-the-ku-klux-klan/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [“BY THE HUNDREDS, blacks cleared out of Groveland on the backs of citrus trucks. Others took blankets, food, and water and fled with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-king/by-the-hundreds-blacks-cleared-out-of-groveland-on-the-backs-of/) [Gilbert King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-king/) > [I ran into Ku Klux Klan and the threat of hurricanes, and those two things made me decide not to build on the Alabama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-ran-into-ku-klux-klan-and-the-threat-of-hurricanes-and-those-two/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Hitler wanted to hear all about the American skyscrapers ... but failed utterly to draw logical conclusions from the information. … He was passionately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-hanfstaengl/hitler-wanted-to-hear-all-about-the-american-skyscrapers-but-failed/) [Ernst Hanfstaengl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-hanfstaengl/) > [Stone Mountain, Georgia, still had Ku Klux Klan marches, and I had a wild and courageous mother who'd put us in the car to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-beharie/stone-mountain-georgia-still-had-ku-klux-klan-marches-and-i-had-a/) [Nicole Beharie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-beharie/) > [The Ku Klux Klan never dies. They just stop wearing sheets because sheets cost too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/the-ku-klux-klan-never-dies-they-just-stop-wearing-sheets-because/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-byrd/be-sure-you-avoid-the-ku-klux-klan-don-t-get-that-albatross-around/) [Robert Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-byrd/) > [The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation—until at last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-white-men-were-roused-by-a-mere-instinct-of-self-preservation/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Do people in the Ku Klux Klan who die and come back as ghosts have to wear two sheets when attending the rally?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/do-people-in-the-ku-klux-klan-who-die-and-come-back-as-ghosts-have-to/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [I asked myself, 'How are you going to change all these people, they have different values, different customs, different language, different interpretations?' So that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/i-asked-myself-how-are-you-going-to-change-all-these-people-they-have/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [When someone is anonymous, it opens the door to all kinds of antisocial behavior, as seen by the Ku Klux Klan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-zimbardo/when-someone-is-anonymous-it-opens-the-door-to-all-kinds-of/) [Philip Zimbardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-zimbardo/) ## More by Ron Chernow > [“In other words, Julia still believed in the beneficial effects of tobacco long after her husband had likely died from it. Even grimacing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/in-other-words-julia-still-believed-in-the-beneficial-effects-of/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Right before his inauguration, he received a Quaker delegation and asked them to nominate Indian agents from their members. “If you can make Quakers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/right-before-his-inauguration-he-received-a-quaker-delegation-and/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Grant roomed with Fred Dent, who also singled out Grant as “the clearest headed young man I ever saw . . . He always wanted to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/grant-roomed-with-fred-dent-who-also-singled-out-grant-as-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [The richly cadenced prose is hypnotic, the research prodigious, the analysis acute, the mood spellbinding, and the cast of characters mythic in scale. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-richly-cadenced-prose-is-hypnotic-the-research-prodigious-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Hamilton has often been extolled as the exponent of a rational foreign policy based on cool calculations of national self-interest. But his April 14…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/hamilton-has-often-been-extolled-as-the-exponent-of-a-rational/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“While the folks at home embraced him as an improbable hero, Washington was denigrated in England as a reckless young warrior and in France…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/while-the-folks-at-home-embraced-him-as-an-improbable-hero-washington/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“the immorality of slavery became patently clear that spring. He had acquired from Colonel Dent the mulatto slave named William Jones who had worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-immorality-of-slavery-became-patently-clear-that-spring-he-had/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“As his life steadily unraveled, he pawned his gold watch and chain for $20 on December 23, 1857, to purchase Christmas presents for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/as-his-life-steadily-unraveled-he-pawned-his-gold-watch-and-chain-for/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Grant had overwhelmingly won the electoral vote, and had garnered the largest popular majority of the century, nearly 56 percent of the vote, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/grant-had-overwhelmingly-won-the-electoral-vote-and-had-garnered-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“The chief quartermaster on the West Coast, Robert Allen, an old friend of Grant’s, learned he was holed up in a cheap miner’s hotel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-chief-quartermaster-on-the-west-coast-robert-allen-an-old-friend/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Returning to his Manhattan town house on Christmas Eve, Grant, sixty-one, pivoted to hand the driver a holiday tip when he slipped on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/returning-to-his-manhattan-town-house-on-christmas-eve-grant-sixty/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“When he bet Julia that she wouldn’t dare to descend into the mine, located seventeen hundred feet below, it roused her fighting spirit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/when-he-bet-julia-that-she-wouldn-t-dare-to-descend-into-the-mine/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Consequential to the election outcome were the many private contacts in the capital between southern Democrats and Hayes’s northern Republican supporters. At Wormley’s Hotel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/consequential-to-the-election-outcome-were-the-many-private-contacts/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“The trial wasn’t the finest hour of American justice as the treatment of the prisoners seemed medieval in its barbarism. Almost all of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-trial-wasn-t-the-finest-hour-of-american-justice-as-the-treatment/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“he warned that progressive accumulation of debt “is perhaps the NATURAL DISEASE of all Governments. And it is not easy to conceive anything more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/he-warned-that-progressive-accumulation-of-debt-is-perhaps-the/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) [Explore all 276 Ron Chernow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) ## More Klan quotes > [As a black man, I actually had naturally sort of comedic curiosity about the Klan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-kamau-bell/as-a-black-man-i-actually-had-naturally-sort-of-comedic-curiosity/) [W. Kamau Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-kamau-bell/) > [When someone is anonymous, it opens the door to all kinds of antisocial behavior, as seen by the Ku Klux Klan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-zimbardo/when-someone-is-anonymous-it-opens-the-door-to-all-kinds-of/) [Philip Zimbardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-zimbardo/) > [I asked myself, 'How are you going to change all these people, they have different values, different customs, different language, different interpretations?' So that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/i-asked-myself-how-are-you-going-to-change-all-these-people-they-have/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [“The enemy was not the Klan but the inside-outside lock that racism and classism had on the minds of the people: It operated from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junius-williams/the-enemy-was-not-the-klan-but-the-inside-outside-lock-that-racism/) [Junius Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junius-williams/) > [Do people in the Ku Klux Klan who die and come back as ghosts have to wear two sheets when attending the rally?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/do-people-in-the-ku-klux-klan-who-die-and-come-back-as-ghosts-have-to/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation—until at last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-white-men-were-roused-by-a-mere-instinct-of-self-preservation/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [That was one thing that we learned, that the Klan was making an active recruitment pitch to the armed forces - not just in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-stallworth/that-was-one-thing-that-we-learned-that-the-klan-was-making-an-active/) [Ron Stallworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-stallworth/) > [Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-byrd/be-sure-you-avoid-the-ku-klux-klan-don-t-get-that-albatross-around/) [Robert Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-byrd/) > [Some people have compared the Klan images to ecclesiastical figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andres-serrano/some-people-have-compared-the-klan-images-to-ecclesiastical-figures/) [Andres Serrano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andres-serrano/) > [The Ku Klux Klan never dies. They just stop wearing sheets because sheets cost too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/the-ku-klux-klan-never-dies-they-just-stop-wearing-sheets-because/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Once you go outside of Atlanta, there are still a lot of Klan rallies and whatnot. There are a lot of conflicting elements that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiro-murai/once-you-go-outside-of-atlanta-there-are-still-a-lot-of-klan-rallies/) [Hiro Murai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiro-murai/) > [It's the whole white-supremacist movement, no matter what they call themselves - be it Klan, Nazis, alt-right, skinheads - the basic ideology is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-stallworth/it-s-the-whole-white-supremacist-movement-no-matter-what-they-call/) [Ron Stallworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-stallworth/) > [Stone Mountain, Georgia, still had Ku Klux Klan marches, and I had a wild and courageous mother who'd put us in the car to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-beharie/stone-mountain-georgia-still-had-ku-klux-klan-marches-and-i-had-a/) [Nicole Beharie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-beharie/) > [Hitler wanted to hear all about the American skyscrapers ... but failed utterly to draw logical conclusions from the information. … He was passionately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-hanfstaengl/hitler-wanted-to-hear-all-about-the-american-skyscrapers-but-failed/) [Ernst Hanfstaengl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-hanfstaengl/) > [I ran into Ku Klux Klan and the threat of hurricanes, and those two things made me decide not to build on the Alabama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-ran-into-ku-klux-klan-and-the-threat-of-hurricanes-and-those-two/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) Browse all 100 Klan quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“By 1872, under Grant’s leadership, the Ku Klux Klan had been smashed in the South. 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