The 19th century was a difficult time for African Americans and Native Americans in the United States. The treatment of these people by white society caused much pain and suffering for their races. This is because race played an important role in society during the 19th century, which is why African Americans and Native Americans were treated poorly in their relationship with white society. of inferiority compared to the white race. Evidence of this can be seen in the “Oath of Initiation of the Knights of the White Camellia”. The Knights of the White Camellia, more commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan (or KKK for short), believe it was their duty to maintain the division between African-American and white society by any means necessary. KKK members wanted to maintain the Caucasian race as the superior race by repressing African Americans, intimidating them to stay away from the political sphere, and preventing interracial marriages. In the oath they vow to obtain such measures only by lawful means (Gorn 4-5). Thomas W. Wilson believed that African Americans were inferior to whites, perhaps not to the extent that the KKK believed, in his article “Reconstruction (1906)” he briefly speaks of African Americans as ignorant, uncouth, and as “easy deceivers” (Hollitz 10 ). Both of these sources show whites' need for supremacy over African Americans and, as the KKK initiation speech states, their willingness to exercise their own supremacy. Making whites believe they are superior to African Americans is only natural that the way they treated African Americans corresponded to their disgust towards them. Even though the KKK oath... middle of paper... his race is just as valid as the white race. Furthermore, through the failure of assimilation, Native Americans were able to maintain their reservations which still thrive today, not in the glory through which they once thrived, but they are still around. It wasn't easy for these two races to get to the point where they are now, and there are still prejudices against them in the world, but hopefully one day races of all kinds can live in harmony with each other, without the need to make everyone as if I were. Works Cited Gorn, Elliot J., Randy Roberts, and Terry D. Bilhartz. Constructing the American Past: A Sourcebook of a People's History. 7th ed. Vol 2. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2011. Print.Hollitz, John. Thinking About the Past: A Critical Thinking Approach to United States History Vol I: To 1877. 4th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2010. Print.