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To maintain segregation in the South, many white residents sought to make fear part of everyday life for African Americans. #APeoplesJourney 
Their tactics included physical violence, economic threats, and psychological intimidation, as well as sexual exploitation. #APeoplesJourney
Confederate veterans organized the first Ku Klux Klan group in Tennessee in 1865—intent on intimidating freedmen across the South.
After the end of federal troop protection during Reconstruction, white southerners used lynching to terrorize: s.si.edu/2fODyvi
Lynchings were often organized by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), but thousands of everyday citizens participated and watched.
Most victims were accused of a crime but never put on trial. Rape of white women was the most frequent unsubstantiated charge.
This reinforced the idea that fear was the only way to control African Americans and force them to accept segregation and discrimination.
