Knights of the Golden Circle

Created in 1854 by George W. L. Bickley, a Virginia-born physician, the Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret organization that sympathized with the southern states and sought to establish a slaveholding nation encompassing the southern United States and Central America in a “Golden Circle.” The group championed the preservation of slavery from the perceived threat of northern Abolitionism. By 1859, KGC membership spread through the southern states and Texas, where the group gained considerable influence with thirty-two local chapters or “castles” throughout the state. From May 7-11, 1860, a general convention of the KGC met in Raleigh, North Carolina, which published a lengthy address to the people of the southern states. After the secession of Texas in March 1861, the KGC actively participated in the removal of federal authority from Texas and was rumored to support plots against the United States Government throughout the war.

Source: Campbell, Randolph B. “Knights of the Golden Circle.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed June 30, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/vbk01.

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