Knights of the Golden Circle

The Knights of the Golden Circle was an American fraternal (and later clandestine) society and paramilitary group, reputedly founded by George W. L. Bickley and others at Lexington, Kentucky on the 4th of July 1854 (with the first Castle being established in Cincinnati that same year), that sought to increase the political authority of the slave-holding class within American society, first through the promotion of aggressive territorial expansion and the establishment of new pro-slavery states, toward which end it engaged on two occasions in attempts to invade Mexico, and ultimately by supporting the secessionist Confederate States of America, including engagement in acts of sabotage against the United States. Following the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War, some have reported that the society continued to operate underground as a grand conspiracy, holding it responsible for the activities of, among others, the James-Younger Gang, believing that the group was hoarding stolen gold and money in secret caches for the purpose of funding the establishment of a new empire, seeking to conquer states and territories in a "Golden Circle" envisioned to include the former C.S.A., Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, Colombia, and the Caribbean, including Haiti and Cuba.