America in the 1920s was a fast-paced society, technology was just beginning to flourish with the development of the Model T car, many recognizing that they could achieve the "American Dream" and lead more successful lives than their parents. One of the popular groups or communities that was revitalized during this era was the KKK, Ku Klux Klan; six students started this group in 1865, during the Reconstruction years. The group began as a gathering of Southern sympathizers, the Klan then began stirring up unrest among recently freed African American former slaves and Southern whites who they believed had betrayed the Southern way of life. The Ku Klux Klan's popularity declined in the late 1800s, due to numerous acts of government intervention and crimes committed by the group. In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan gathered many followers and became a major part of the Southern way of life. The North's industrial boom and the rise of nativism in America sparked the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, in the years following the Great War. With the economic boom that began in America in the years following the Great War, many Americans took advantage of the finer parts of life and lived the life captured by F. Scott Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby . Most of the economic prosperity was felt across the country, primarily in the industrial cities of the North. With the invention of the assembly line, factory efficiency increased and many companies made huge profits. This northern prosperity was rather frowned upon by most elite citizens of the American South. The South benefited to some extent from this economic prosperity, but not to the same extent as the North, the South was still...... middle of paper ......e Jews, Catholics and Blacks in public life in California. The Ku Klux Klan supported Richardson, who has not commented on his support. This is just one example of a community heavily influenced by the Klan and membership garnered from nativist Americans. The Ku Klux Klan has since fallen into disgrace in modern times. and age, the Ku Klux Klan is affiliated with backward "rednecks" who don't know any better. After the civil rights years, the government quickly intervened in the affairs of the Ku Klux Klan and quickly silenced the group. The progressive era of the Ku Klux Klan was popular because much of the population shared the same ideologies as the Klan, not as extreme, but nonetheless shared some of the qualities of the Klansmen. The growing popularity of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1900s is reminiscent of the nativist lifestyle and mentality of Americans at that time..