==Whiteboys==   
  New International Encyclopedia says that Whiteboys  was the name given to peasant associations in Ireland, formed after 1760, for the purpose of visiting revenge on landlords, tax collectors, and the clergy.    

 "Their depredations took place at night and those engaged in them were protected by blackened faces and white garments." 

 New International Encyclopedia says that similar organizations of a somewhat later period assumed the names of  "Hearts of Steel," "Hearts of Oak," and "Rightboys."    

 I tend to believe that these types of organizations and the Ku Klux Klan arise from inborn traits that lead to survival of the toughest people.  Mr. White of the U. S. Congress read the statements of the first Ku Klux Klan group, so their statements are a part of the Congressional record.  Basically, they made it known that they were not going to be ruled by Negroes, if and when they were out-voted.   
 
   

 http://www.dartmouth.edu/~napage/alums/nativenews.html 
 http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/FRENCH-INDIAN/2000-02/0950899253