Knights of the Golden Circle

The Knights of the Golden Circle began as a breakaway sect from the Sons of Liberty during the era of the Civil War. 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. 
However, the defeat of the Confederates, the economic devastation of the South, their inability to annex Central America and the liberation of colored Americans from slavery brought their dreams to an end.
Or did it?
== Facts: ==
-The KGC survived the American Civil War and operated clandestinely for several decades thereafter. The actions of the Knights during this time are obscure but it is known they acquired an obscene amount of gold, much of which they purportedly hid in various parts of the country and then marked the treasure with strange markings and Biblical passages across the country.
-According to rumor, the KGC still exists, but in the form of rural families who consider it their ancestral duty to safeguard the treasure from all who would take it.
-The 'Golden Circle' that the group is named after was the regional circle of Southern American States that were based on slavery as well as annexed Mexico and parts of the Caribbean. The point was to create a stronghold of Southern, slavery-based culture that would be too powerful to remove. 
-Unlike the Sons of Liberty who divide themselves into regional Militias, the KGC divide themselves into 'Castles.' The principle difference between a Militia and a Castle is that a Castle functions over a wider territory and operates as a secretive force, where else the Militia regularly patrols a smaller area and is meant to be out in the open. 
-After the American Civil War, many members of the Golden Circle took up the life of the outlaw, continuing their war by attacking Yankee banks and companies. Unfortunately, this vocation led many of them down a dark path that ended with them becoming little more than savage raiders attacking anyone who stood in their way. 
-In modern times the KGC exist in two primary forms: there are those who have put the past behind them and now work as a sub-section of the Sons of Liberty proper and those fringe groups who still plot to (somehow) strike back at the SoL and rekindle the Civil War. Most KGC are rural dwellers whose membership is due more to family tradition than anything and they see their mission as being defenders of their own people and culture.
== References: ==
-Knights of the Golden Circle
-http://knightsofthegoldencircle.net/
-http://knightsofthegoldencircle.webs.com/
-http://www.sonofthesouth.net/mexican-war/knights-golden-circle.htm
Category:Sons Of Liberty