A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them

Explain the significance of the book’s title. Why does Egan use the word fever to describe the KKK’s resurgence? Use evidence from the text to support your discussion.

What was the appeal of the KKK to ordinary citizens? How did the ordinary quality of their lives contribute to their desire to join? Did these appeal(s) differ among men and women?

After Lincoln’s assassination, how did the actions of his successor, Andrew Johnson, contribute to the formation of the original KKK and the passage of Jim Crow laws?

The second incarnation of the KKK in the 1920s rebranded itself. How did Stephenson and Evans create an image of a Klan built around virtue and Americanism?

What was the cultural significance of D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation? How did the KKK use it as propaganda?

How did Madge Oberholtzer epitomize the progressive new century? In what ways was she still trapped in a patriarchal past?

Define the concept of eugenics. How did the KKK use its theories to further its agenda?

Explain the competing legal strategies during Stephenson’s trial. How did the defense’s strategy rely on sexist assumptions about women? What was Remy’s clinching appeal to the jury that ultimately delivered a victory for the prosecution?