Few people know of the Knights of the Golden Circle and even fewer know about the purpose for which it existed. It wasn’t a fabulous bunch. as the source of the immense treasure, worth more than $10 million dollars in today’s economy. Pro-slavery states in the south, and midwest states tended to align with each other politically. Knights of The Golden Circle: Secret Empire, Southern Secession, Civil War. That same year, Asbury Harpending and California members of the Knights of the Golden Circle in San Francisco outfitted the schooner J. M. Chapman as a Confederate privateer in San Francisco Bay, with the object of raiding commerce on the Pacific Coast and capturing gold shipments to the East Coast. [6] Although a Unionist, United States Senator Sam Houston introduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate in 1858 for the "United States to declare and maintain an efficient protectorate over the States of Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and San Salvador." Jim R. is a writer living in Los Angeles. Twiggs was appointed a major general in the Confederate States Army on May 22, 1861.[10]. While the northern American states weren’t entirely anti-slavery, their economy wasn’t based on slave labor. It was probably closer to 50,000. The Knights consisted of many famous individuals including: Sam Houston, Jesse James, and John Wilkes Booth. That is unusual because during the last century this very large, powerful, secret and subversive southern organization had such a profound influence and effect over the course of many years that they almost succeeded in … ), a secretive organization created in 1854, proposed to establish a slaveholding empire encompassing the southern United States, the West Indies, Mexico, and parts of Central America. Learn More: Knights of the Golden Circle: Secret Empire, Southern Secession, Civil War (Amazon). All rights reserved. while KGC members were still Cabinet officers and Senators". [2] Records of the KGC convention held in 1860 state that the organization "originated at Lexington, Kentucky, on the fourth day of July 1854, by five gentlemen who came together on a call made by Gen. George Bickley". This measure, which supported the goal of the KGC, failed to be adopted. George W.L. George W. L. Bickley, a Virginian who had moved to Ohio, organized the first castle, or local branch, in Cincinnati in 1854 and soon took the order to the South, where it was enthusiastically received. The Knights of the Golden Circle, or KGC, was founded in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 4, 1856, by George Bickley. Because of that, the southern secession effectively ended the Knights of the Golden Circle. In Virginia, he founded a local historical society and began writing a history of white settlement in the area. In the summer of 1859 an organization calling itself the Knights of the Golden Circle achieved national notoriety as an influential secret society formed to defend the rights southern slaveholders. With a capital in Havana, Cuba, this 2,400 square mile empire would dominate the world’s sugar and tobacco trades and guarantee slavery’s survival. Although Republicans accused these groups of treasonable activities, there is little evidence to support the accusation. In exchange, he promised the Knights half of the state’s tax revenue. The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society in the mid-19th-century United States. [9] As volunteers continued to join McCulloch the following day, United States Army Brevet Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs decided to surrender the arsenal peacefully to the secessionists. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. An 1861 book cover on the Knights of the Golden Circle (L) and their purported flag (R). These laws declared that whenever the United States added a new state, the state’s residents would vote on whether to legalize slavery. The only person in this photo that has been positively identified is Henry Ford who is the only Knight with his hat off. George W. L. Bickley, a doctor, editor, and "adventurer" who lived in Cincinnati, founded the association. Hounded by creditors, he left Cincinnati in the late 1850s and traveled through the East and South, promoting an expedition to Mexico. This would extend pro-slavery interests. Accept Read More, Disturbing Twins – June and Jennifer Gibbons, Oxyrhynchus Papyri: Historical Treasure in Ancient Egyptian Garbage, Psychology of Tyrants: History and Observations. It was taken in the late 1800s or very early 1900s in Brownwood, Texas. He's written for some TV shows and a bunch of websites. Knights of the Golden Circle, Secret Empire, Southern Secession, Civil War. Loyalist Leaders of the Democratic Party opposed to Abraham Lincoln's administration denounced the draft and other wartime measures, such as the arrest of seditious persons and the president's temporary suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. of old, were all prominent businessmen in the next century and beyond. 3. The Knights of the Golden Circle began as a breakaway sect from the Sons of Liberty during the era of the Civil War. [3] He organized the first castle, or local branch, in Cincinnati in 1854. In early 1862, Radical Republicans in the Senate, aided by Secretary of State William H. Seward, suggested that former president Franklin Pierce, who was greatly critical of the Lincoln administration's war policies, was an active member of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Bickley claimed to boast a membership of 115,000. feb 13, 2015 - thread: knights of the golden circle symbols on stone marker. aren't even told the names of their superiors (aside from their Captain) or … Bickley promised an invasion force of 16,000. It is a process referred to as “popular sovereignty.”. Bickley had planned to raise an even larger force in New Orleans to join them. The Texas KGC supported President of the United States James Buchanan's policy of, and draft treaty for, protecting routes for U.S commerce across Mexico, which also failed to be approved by the U.S. Members fell into three categories: a military wing that planned to participate in conquest, a financial wing who would support the group from home, and a governing wing. In the decades after the country’s founding, the northern and southern states developed on different paths. He was chosen by Caleb Cushing to head an Illuminati branch in New Orleans and to establish a New World order. He was arrested as a Confederate spy in 1863 and held prisoner until the war ended. It is probably the greatest untold story today in the history of the United States. According to Bickley, on July 4th, 1854, he and five other men founded the Knights of the Golden Circle. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2013. xii + 308 pages. David Keehn talked about the secret society known as the Knights of the Golden Circle that sought to establish a slave empire spanning the southern United States, Mexico, Cuba, and the West Indies. [11] In May 1861, members of the KGC and the Confederate Rangers attacked a building which housed a pro-Union newspaper, the Alamo Express, owned by J. P. Newcomb, and burned it down. Pro-slavery southern newspapers amplified his message, and the movement grew. The group's original goal was to provide a force to colonize the northern part of Mexico and the West Indies. [17], The Los Angeles Times noted that one theory, among many, on the origin of the Saddle Ridge Hoard of gold coins is that it was cached by the KGC, which "some believe buried millions in ill-gotten gold across a dozen states to finance a second Civil War". Bickley founded the Knights of the Golden Circle, intending to create a pro-slavery empire and ensure slavery lasted indefinitely. Like many other secret societies, the end of the Knights of the Golden Circle was only the beginning of rumors about their activities. Bickley was born sometime between 1819 and 1823. Still, others believed the Knights buried hordes of gold coins across America to finance a second civil war. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture. As a secret society, the KGC had bylaws, rituals, and a constitution. It … Local units were called castles and members were formed into three orders, a military corps, a financial contingent, and a leadership cadre. From 1865 to 1930 they were still stirring up a stink in the U.S. Government. The same was true for anti-slavery northern states. According to Bickley, he ran away from home at age twelve to live a life of adventure. The Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. BOOK REVIEW: Myers, Jack, Knight’s Gold: The Largest Documented KGC Treasure Ever Discovered (Jack O’Llantern Press, 2016) pp. This medical school taught a form of alternative medicine. For instance, some speculate about the group’s connection to other secret societies like the Templars, the Sons of Liberty, or the Freemasons. Later, during the American Civil War, the society spread to Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana and also functioned in the border states of Kentucky and Missouri. Eleven pro-slavery states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy on December 20th, 1860. One such cache was actually discovered by two Baltimore boys in 1934 who found 5,000 gold coins worth $10 million in today’s dollars. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Secretary of War John Floyd received instructions from the Order to "seize Navy-yards, Forts, etc. Accounts of his early life primarily come from Bickley himself, which are often contradictory and unverifiable. Others have suggested that infamous American historical figures like Jesse James and John Wilkes Booth were members, without evidence. While the Civil War outlawed slavery, it did not end America’s underlying racial inequality. That is unusual because during the last century this very large, powerful, secret and subversive southern organization had such a profound influence and effect over the course of many years that they almost succeeded in … The Knights of the Golden Circle were a pro-slavery secret society in the mid-nineteenth-century United States. In either case, the goal was to increase the power of the Southern slave-holding upper class to such a degree that it could never be dislodged.[1]. Its members were known as Copperheads .Dr. KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. In 1859, future Confederate States Army brigadier general Elkanah Greer established KGC castles in East Texas and Louisiana. Later that year, Bickley again announced plans for an invasion. The old school Rebels in the K.G.C. But he was again unable to provide reinforcements and weapons, and he canceled the invasion. Both Baylor and Trevanion Teel, Sibley's captain of artillery, had been among the KGC members who rode with Ben McCulloch. See more ideas about american history, golden circle, history. [7], With the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, the Texas KGC changed its emphasis from a plan to expand U.S. territory into Mexico in order to focus its efforts on providing support for the Southern States' secession from the Union. Senate. Mar 28, 2014 - Explore MoBarBQ's board "Knights of the Golden Circle" on Pinterest. While the group would ultimately dissolve, their ideals lived on for decades afterward. It became strongest among Copperheads, who were Democrats who wanted to end the Civil War via settlement with the South. It was during the 1850s that Bickley, inspired by the most divisive political issue of his day, first had his most grandiose idea yet. Written by David Keehn. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, scam artists in south-central Pennsylvania sold Pennsylvania Dutch farmers $1 paper tickets purported to be from the Knights of the Golden Circle. Their attempt was detected and they were seized on the night of their intended departure. While the underground organization would fall short of this goal, they were still influential. Th… [6] In the spring of 1860, Elkanah Greer had become general and grand commander of 4,000 Military Knights in the KGC's Texas division of 21 castles. Dubbed “Manifest Destiny” in 1845, the philosophy of this policy was that America should always expand its boundaries to spread democracy and capitalism worldwide. Sie sollte die Annexion der Gebiete des Goldenen Kreises (Mexiko, Zentralamerika, Karibik) als ' Sklavenstaaten ' der USA vorbereiten. [14][15][16], In late 1863, the KGC reorganized as the Order of American Knights. Whenever someone finds a stash of buried gold coins, there’s usually speculation that its KGC treasure, even as recently as 2014. This book contains the complete ritual of all three degrees including the ante-room work, officer speeches and candidate questions. Many Knights of the Golden Circle would fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War. This short gives us comments from the Wibberlys, Cage, The Mysterious and Secret Order of the Knights of the Golden Circle author Dr. Roy Roush, Rebel Gold author Warren Getler, and actor Christian Camargo. During the following years, when the Southern States of America desired to break away and form their own country with legislated slavery approved by the governmental, the KotGC sought to build their own American country. The KGC hoped to sponsor military expeditions to annex territory in the American southwest, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. had plenty of gold to fund many future investments and businesses in the U.S. and who better to take over the reigns than their offspring. Although the group essentially disbanded, their secretive nature meant they became suspects of the Northwest Conspiracy. Written by J. W. Pomfrey in 1861. The Practice of Dowsing for Water, Oil and... Theodosia Burr Alston Disappearance at Sea. Die Knights of the Golden Circle ( KGC) waren eine 1854 von George W. L. Bickley gegründete Geheimgesellschaft, welche ursprünglich die Interessen der Südstaaten der USA unterstützen sollte. The Knights of the Golden Circle’s Treasure Template Research also pointed towards a secret society known as the Knights of the Golden Circle (or ‘K.G.C.’), which was a pro-Confederate organization, founded in the mid-1850s, with the goal of preserving slavery and creating an empire based on agriculture with labor provided by slaves. Most Copperheads were more interested in maintaining the existence of the… Perhaps more tantalizing are the rumors that the Knights of the Golden Circle hid treasures still undiscovered to this day. The Knights of the Golden Circle may have dissolved, but their ideology continues today. In 1864, it became the Order of the Sons of Liberty, with the Ohio politician Clement L. Vallandigham, most prominent of the Copperheads, as its supreme commander. Also includes the Key of the Degree Work. © 2009-2020 Historic Mysteries. meeting. At their highest point, Bickley claimed the Knights’ membership numbered over 100,000. Before the Civil War several members of President James Buchanan's administration were members of the order. KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. At their highest point, Bickley claimed the Knights’ membership numbered over 100,000. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The featurette offers a quick look at the history behind part of the film's story. After three months without pay, the militia disbanded. The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society in the mid-19th-century United States. As the nation approached civil war, anti-slavery Republicans accused KGC members of secretly supporting the southern cause. As abolitionism in the United States increased after the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, the members proposed a separate confederation of slave states, with U.S. states south of the Mason-Dixon line to secede and to align with other slave states to be formed from the "golden circle". 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