The history of *** started from the late 19th century when a social fabric of the society was threatened by the rise of an Invisible Empire. The Ku Klux Klan is not only the part of specific group but is also linked with the groups who have themes like racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism and all bigotry or hatred who have no place in country.
Ku Klux Klan being an organization follows the acts of intimidation, terrorism and violence like the burning of the cross and lynching so that to spread their message. The African-Americans and the other people who had separate ideology other than *** became the point of violence. Even after the strict actions of FBI and the legendary J Edgar Hoover, still the bits and pieces of *** are there in America till today.
There are 3 different stages being categorized based upon the history of the Ku Klux Klan. After the American Civil War, there were fears of rebel against the former masters and the African American when the Government was quite weak after the American Civil War and that was when the first level started. The name ***, at that time was not formally used by the ideology, the white supremacy groups like White Brotherhood, Men of Justice and Pale Faces.
It was only in 1866, when the rich landowners contributed in the organization so that to keep on with their heritage by forcing the slaves to work in the cotton fields. The *** derived from the word "Kuklos" that is of Greek language. The *** quickly became very popular and all the smaller groups were absorbed into the main organization. The *** used the methods of lynching, murdering and whipping so that to spread the terror and achieve their objectives. It is already mentioned that in addition to the blacks, the carpetbaggers were also targeted by the Klan. Carpetbaggers are people from the Northern divide who had travelled to the South for economic reasons. In the fight for invisible empire, the romantic notion was being introduced and that made the *** quite successful. The bitterness was still there in the heart of the retired army enlisters and for this reason they chosen.

Additional Resources:
Do you know what *** represents?