What’

snew
i
n thepast?

You’reabout
to find out

Prologue
of the
Nati
onalArchi
ves
pieces of history

A
SEAL
of
GUILT
I
n the spring of 1860, the enterpris-
ing and opportunistic George W. L.
Bickley embarked on a tour of the
southern United States to recruit mem-
bers for his secret society, the Knights of
the Golden Circle. Bickley had formed
the KGC in the mid-1850s to extend
Southern interests (i.e., slavery) to a “Golden
Circle” of territories that included Mexico,
Central America, parts of South America, and
the Caribbean. He visited several cities in March
1860, signing up recruits and gathering money to
invade Mexico. In early April, however, disgruntled
“Knights” in New Orleans denounced Bickley as a fraud
and imposter.
Bickley continued to solicit support and funds for his
schemes but changed his focus after the election of 1860
brought Abraham Lincoln to the White House. Instead of
colonizing Mexico, the KGC would defend Southern rights Bickley never realized his grand dreams, but enough
against Yankee interference. men joined units of the Knights of the Golden Circle that
the threat to the Union seemed imminent in the minds of
some Northerners. Claims of tens of thousands of mem-
bers in Midwestern states—notably Indiana, Illinois, and
Ohio—stirred fears of conspiracies against the Republican
government.
The die for the seal of the Knights of the Golden Circle
came into the hands of the U.S. Army when Bickley was ar-
rested in Tennessee in July 1863. Although he tried to tell the
arresting officers that he had no connection with the KGC,
the contents of his trunk proved otherwise. Along with this
seal the Army found several other documents relating to
the Knights, including a copy of the Rules, Regulations and
Principles of the Knights of the Golden Circle; a calling card for
“Gen. Geo. Bickley” bearing the Confederate flag and the
letters “K.G.C.”; and another card that listed the secret signs
of recognition known by Knights. P

Above: Metal die for the seal of the Knights of the Golden Circle.
Right: Card listing the KGC's secret signs of recognition.

Spring 2010