Knights of the Golden Circle | Secret Societies 3 | American History | Extra History

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The Knights of the Golden Circle's ambitious plans aim to establish a vast empire stretching from Virginia to Belize, perpetuating slavery and reshaping Latin America. However, poor planning and communication lead to chaos, and the expedition ultimately fizzles out, leaving Bickley's grand vision unrealized. Despite its failure, the Knights of the Golden Circle leave a lasting impact on history, influencing events such as the Confederate invasion of the Southwest.
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Miss an episode in our Secret Societies Series?
Part 1 - • The Cult of Mithras | ...
Part 2 - • The Illuminati | Secre...
Part 3 - • Knights of the Golden ...
Part 4 - • The Golden Dawn and Al...
Part 5 - • The Yakuza | Secret So...
Series Wrap-up & Recommended Reading / Lies Episode - Release Date: 5/18
Thanks for the high-quality conversations & for following our community guidelines here: bit.ly/ECFansRNice
Artist: Ali R Thome | Writer: Robert Rath | Researcher: A. Siso | Showrunner & Narrator: Matthew Krol | Video Editor: Devon House Creative | Audio Editor: Clean Waves | Studio Director: Geoffry Zatkin | Social Media: Kat Rider | ♪ Music by Demetori: bit.ly/1EQA5N7 | ♪ "Subatomic Fugue" by Tiffany Roman
#ExtraHistory #America #History

[@extrahistory]

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[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

You guys are the Best ❤❤❤❤❤

[@also_arles]

I'm already celebrating the new upload! :) ❤️

[@a-posingroach]

I’m gonna steal your liver

[@mattdragon333]

Did they plan to ally with Belgium and turn Mexico into a Belgian Congo kind situation?

[@thechannel2975]

Hey, I was wondering more if you guys post your sources somewhere for videos? Some videos I want to learn more about, like the past videos of this series.

[@Gittins89]

Me: Ooooh cool name! Extra History: They were designed to keep slavery alive. Me: So the coolness stops at the name then?

[@konstantinosnikolakakis8125]

Like with many things, sadly.

[@frankie3010]

Villains are always cooler then heroes.

[@mosin_boi]

I say the idea of adding Mexico to the States is a cool odea

[@Mustafa_AhmedPGH]

Pretty much.

[@andrewhopkins886]

@@mosin_boi it's actually quite hot down there.

[@DuranmanX]

Its crazy that the more you learn about the Confederacy, how maniacal they really were, and how its good they only lasted basically 5 years

[@thequietdreamer2186]

It’s also crazy that the Union Army didn’t have a shoot on sight order for every Confederate they encountered.

[@codycarney2311]

It's such a shame that even though it's cultural impact has far outweighed its real historical one

[@peggyliepmann5248]

Every time I learn something new about that era, the more I can't help but see the whole thing as a bunch of con artists and rich jerks doing an increasingly frantic tap dance routine.

[@50TNCSA]

And the Yankees were no better where did they get their cotton for their mills to industrialize who did the federal government use to build forts along the coast .. who did they use to build DC... slaves ...the federal government that put down sovereign states is not innocent

[@destructorinator]

The more you learn about the Confederacy the more you question how they lasted five full years, these yahoos were worse than the fucking habsburgs

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

🇲🇽 Mexicans in Matamoros: "What are those gringos doing?" "They're the Golden Circle guys. Just ignore them."

[@EEEEEEEE]

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎E

[@brushdogart]

The Knights of the Golden Circle make for great villains in any period setting or alt-history game. My husband is planning a lovely campaign where the Knights discovered how to use blood magic and are now only kept in check by an alliance of voodoo practitioners centered in New Orleans.

[@andrewhopkins886]

wait... that sounds awesome.

[@mistformsquirrel]

... okay that's kind of a badass premise...

[@KasumiRINA]

Kingsman the Golden Circle and Bond Live and Let Die crossover we never deserved.

[@roguepsykerhaaker4813]

That's so cool

[@freedomgeek2]

Yeah I was thinking that they were way more deserving of being the secret society used as a villain in lots of media than the Illuminati who more or less seemed to advocate things most modern people would support.

[@GeneralLuigiTBC]

Bickley had a [lousy] plan. Bickley always had a [lousy] plan.

[@MrDalisclock]

I wonder if Dutch Van Der linde was modeled partially off Bickley

[@1Ring42]

Because the plan wasn't "Get 'em"

[@kenzieafent6291]

"Soon, we're gonna make *them* harvest mangoes in tahiti!"

[@mebrychi6504]

And he never became a [[BIGSHOT]] lol

[@Toneill029]

@@MrDalisclock I mean…probably

[@catcharide56]

Southern slavery expansionism is worthy of its own series. Both William Walker’s and Narciso López’s filibustering in Nicaragua and Cuba respectively had the eventual goal of being annexed by the US as slave states, a la the Texas Revolution. López asked both Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee to lead expeditions to overthrow the Spanish government in Cuba. They declined but it didn’t stop them from trying to do the same thing later on with their own government.

[@CamelJoeNukesTheWorld]

Hell yeah.

[@Attaxalotl]

The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico is really quite underrated, too! Some randos from Arizona ended up charging the Union lines with lances instead of rifles, and the ones from Texas might as well have been invading Russia for all that went wrong for them.

[@beeaggro2593]

DR too. William Walker deserves a series for himself alone

[@RozenGermain]

@@beeaggro2593 William Walker's story has the happiest ending I can think of in regards to colonizing bastards! So I hope they cover it!

[@angusyang5917]

​@@RozenGermain ​ It says a lot about filibustering when the happiest ending has you actually take control of a country and establish a slave-friendly government, only to then have all of Central America's governments unite in a coalition backed by American business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, expel you from the country, only to come a few years later to be handed over to one of those governments and executed by firing squad.

[@RedUmbre]

One of my favorite things about learning about the golden dawn (in an academic setting) was that they literally start rituals by t posing to assert dominance. So dabbing as a secret society gesture isnt really that far off

[@olefredrikskjegstad5972]

Presumably mimicking Jesus on the cross.

[@9gagHasMySoul]

Greek political party golden dawn?

[@thehungrylittlenihilist]

​@@9gagHasMySoulmore likely the hermetic religious order.

[@9gagHasMySoul]

@thehungrylittlenihilist thanks! I wouldn't have put it past that specific political party though

[@TheJacobG]

The quack joins the Confederate army as a doctor. 😂

[@ecurewitz]

And promptly gets captured

[@emyra_3293]

rip whoever got “treated” by him

[@johnoglesby-vw7ck]

History rhymes...

[@DragoniteSpam]

Inside me there are two wolves: one of them is a racist of legendary proportions, the other has worse organizational skills than a gaggle of middle schoolers who were set a group project.

[@darkhobo]

They both lose

[@HedgehogSpeedSonic]

@@darkhobo And are also extremely proud of their shared loss, and flaunt their defeat.

[@THECHEESELORD69]

@@HedgehogSpeedSonicnow replace the wolves with anything having to do with America and that’s how politics work!

[@jroden06]

The Confederacy is a never ending L

[@bthsr7113]

At least it gave us an enduring way to spot stupid.

[@Magnustopheles]

It's an L that lasted less than five years, actually 😂

[@Michigan_npc]

​@@Magnustopheles a L is an L no matter the time it was a L

[@anthonyrinaldi1331]

Interesting to see how public they were. For all their secret handshakes and rituals and whatnot they sure were eager to put their messages in newspapers, have public conventions and openly recruit.

[@tjenadonn6158]

Yeah, it really seems about as secretive as the Boy Scouts.

[@Oxtocoatl13]

I guess it's hard to recruit an army if you never talk about fight club.

[@thor30013]

Honestly, I half expected to find out that the whole organization was at least partly a money making scheme. Those membership prices don't _sound_ high, but you could buy a lot more with $1 back then.

[@palladin9479]

The point of a "Secret Society" isn't that the group is unknown, but that it's methods, practices, membership and internal agendas are unknown. The Freemasons are a good example of this, everyone knowns they exist but if I ask anyone about details all they can do is vomit nonsense they heard from somewhere else. Even Extra History is rather clueless in that regard.

[@HungryLoki]

I think the secrecy was more about their intentions and activities, rather than their existence. Take scientology for example. Their existence was widely known for decades, but they were just viewed as a whacky cult believing in a weird book written by a failed science fiction author. The true extent of their activities didn't come out until much later, when increased public scrutiny encouraged former members to speak up and call the group out for what they are.

[@mercce6750]

So from an inflation calculator: The iron hands would have had to pay about 37 dollars, the second tier about 180 dollars and the highest tier about 370 dollars in today's money.

[@wh0_knows_]

bless i was wondering about this thanks!

[@TheKitsuneOnihane]

I genuinely love that "don't Google it" is a doctrine. It fit especially well last episode, but it's also perfect for modern cults and many organizations of "dont question it." Not intended but still perfect, and i love it.

[@Versatilty]

No mention of John Wilkes Booth belonging to the Knights of the Golden Circle?

[@philiplathrop9250]

Or John C. Calhoun

[@fullmetaltheorist]

@@philiplathrop9250 Every person with the surname Calhoun is very sus

[@philiplathrop9250]

@@fullmetaltheorist He was awful

[@draco84oz]

@@fullmetaltheorist I don't know - Barney keeps trying to offer me a beer...I think he's ok.

[@felixsubakti6907]

​@@fullmetaltheoristdid you just diss cdawgva?😅

[@Rudn4z_127]

Extra History: "Where small groups would invade Latin American countries and try to take over the government." CIA: *taking notes*

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

That's what I was thinking as well.

[@THECHEESELORD69]

Well you have to start somewhere

[@typacsk]

"THIS TIME SHALL BE DIFFERENT!" (shortly afterwards) "IT'S NOT DIFFERENT AT ALL, IS IT STEVE?!"

[@SantiagoRodriguez-yy4jx]

As a citizen of the rio grande they never taught me of the meeting of the knights order thank you for teaching me and others

[@elijahgoddard8957]

"This is getting out of hand! Now there are 7 of them!" I'm sorry if that Phantom Menace joke was already made but that's the first thing that comes to mind when one more cloaked figure emerges from the shadows...or from off-screen.

[@haemocyte2224]

I got distracted by the low dollar amounts and looked up how much those would have been. A dollar would have been about 24 grams silver or 1.6 grams gold. Since the modern prices have diverged, the gold standard dollar would be about a hundred dollars today while the silver one would be only a bit over twenty. Some inflation calculator I found says it'd be about 40.

[@literallypochiyama]

if you think about it, it's still very small as request compared to standard lodges

[@AnthonyGarcia-sy3yk]

The actual question would be how much you buy with 10 dollars at that time..

[@haemocyte2224]

@@AnthonyGarcia-sy3yk I believe that would be the 40 dollar figure.

[@AnthonyGarcia-sy3yk]

@@haemocyte2224 negative !!!!! HiI'd get a Colt Army percussion revolver, a Kentucky (Harper's Ferry Mississippi) Rifle, a Colt Contract musket, and a Sharps percussion rifle, and still have 25 cents change left.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

​@@AnthonyGarcia-sy3yk A brand new Colt revolver after 1863 costs 15 dollars. You can get a decent gun for less than that...

[@Richforce1]

Thought you would have given a moment to the KotGC's most infamous member, one John Wilkes Booth.

[@aldadebater]

Of the secret societies you've covered, the Knights of the Golden Circle was definitely the most sinister yet. Nice job, Extra History!

[@HedgehogSpeedSonic]

And stupid. Imagine declaring a battle that nobody shows up too, and instead thinks their leader ran off with the money. Cave men with sticks planned better than this new world order group of slavers.

[@wolf_hands]

Finally hear my hometown here on the channel and it had to be this episode 🥲

[@T.GLongstaff]

Watching the baby grow up in the cartoons is really sweet

[@codycarney2311]

It's truly a damm shame that the confederacy has had such a disproportionate cultural impact when compared to its historical one

[@fullmetaltheorist]

It's mostly because of people who want to keep It's memory alive.

[@codycarney2311]

@@fullmetaltheorist you can say that again.

[@thanhhoangnguyen4754]

​@@codycarney2311 Well to be fair though not all of them on board with the ideal. Usually the politician and plantation is the big pusher for it.

[@NuclearPoppi]

Ah... I just noticed tha the wee one is standing now... she probably has been for a while... but still. It's still super cute. Seeing how much she has grown along with the show.

[@narvuntien]

A group of people that wanted to own people to do all their work turns out they had no idea how to do any actual work.

[@plauge_gal]

I've lived my whole life here in the Rio grande, and I don't even know if my HISTORY MASTERS mother knew about them. Thanks

[@HedgehogSpeedSonic]

The US northerners were too gentle with reintegrating the confederacy back into their history. So this stuff was not mentioned to avoid making any southern pride aspects more butthurt.

[@spooky6408]

Friendly reminder that the confederacy lasted a meager 4 year...Fortnite lasted long- LEAGUE OF LEGENDS lasted longer.

[@HedgehogSpeedSonic]

The Union should have crushed the confederacy harder. For some reason, the confederacy flaunts their pride as if they won or fought for something to be proud of.

[@forbidden_muffin]

Bro, Nickado Avacado lasted longer, that's sad

[@trevinbeattie4888]

Now I want to see a series on the history of slavery in Brazil.

[@joshuafrimpong244]

Some is answered in the history of Brazil

[@bickyboo7789]

Oh, it's brutal. They bought a LOT more slaves than the American colonists.

[@trevinbeattie4888]

@@joshuafrimpong244 Thanks! I’ll have to re-watch that - my memory is short 😅

[@FroggosLikeDoggos]

oh look they're back, time to rewatch this until next week

[@lightning.theif_]

The Confederates will never not be a big joke and I love it

[@LexiLunarpaw]

Yay!! Its Extra History time!!!

[@EEEEEEEE]

E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

[@bearcb]

After the Civil War the Emperor of Brazil gave lands to Confederate Americans, which settled in what's now the city called Americana, belonging to the metropolitan area of Campinas. They have a Confederate cemetery and an annual tradition festival. Not sure if they are the same people mentioned in the video, though. Ironically, Campinas was a center of the campaign to abolish slavery in Brazil.

[@Klipse11]

Lexington, Kentucky here. Our main road that encompasses the city is called New Circle Road.

[@fullmetaltheorist]

Not very subtle...

[@also_arles]

I NEED that secret handshake scene to be made into a gif... 😓

[@Jus-a-goober]

This is the one of the best history channels

[@j.s.walker3656]

The last thing I expected was to hear Extra History mention the name of my hometown when I clicked it this morning

[@FakeBlocks]

Please do the Greek war of independence of 1821 against the ottoman empire next I've been asking for this since the first episodes of the sengoku Jidai!!

[@woodencoyote4372]

George Bickley was trying to conquer Mexico around the same time as fellow quack-doctor/journalist/lawyer William Walker was trying to conquer Baja California and Nicaragua. I would be interested to know if they ever interacted.

[@Wesyan1999]

Brazil mentioned :(

[@chimerastonewall3471]

At this point, they mentioned Freemasonry so much they should do an episode on that probably separately because I would be more interested in learning about the night Templar

[@DeaconofPlague]

Well, that all went in the most predictable ways possible, huh?

[@ryujibackyeah4189]

For those who wanna know the outro music is called Odd and ends

[@briannamcdaniel266]

This series is amazing so far! I'm loving every minute of it! ❤

[@TheAkeem11688]

Thank you for all your hard work great video as always. It’s hard out here for KZbinrs and you guys have been consistent. Thank you.

[@idontfeellikegivingmynamet1298]

I really love this series specifically because of how unique of an idea this was. Really love it

[@jasminegold6890]

This new series is so awesome! Thank you

[@ThinksFarToMuch]

Fascinating bit of history that I have never heard of. Thank you EH creators!

[@nunodiogo5745]

You should make a video on Emperor Maximilian of Mexico Would be cool

[@nixonhoover2]

No.

[@zandav__]

YAYYY ANOTHER BANGER FROM EXTRA HISTORY!!!! LOVE IT SM 😆😆❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@TravisLee33]

Never heard of this group before. Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@charlessiegfriedlevy6973]

animation is perfect as always.And nice storytelling too

[@groggroggus7298]

been loving the series

[@lucasmiguel1498]

As European person I did not have that much knowledge about this topic. As always you made it funny and interesting. I will be coming back next week for new rank in our not so secret order :)

[@Cheshire1501]

6:12 hey México, whose idea was to name the town “Moor killer”?

[@beeaggro2593]

probably the conquistadors because many fought in the reconquista

[@onbearfeet]

There are a lot of Matamoroses in Mexico. Probably a combination of there being a place in Spain called Matamoros and reverence for a Mexican revolutionary hero with the surname Matamoros. It's a bit like all the American places named after George Washington. The name ultimately derives from a version of a Catholic saint venerated in Spain for killing Moors. So ... yeah, blame the reconquista, but at some distance from the actual town.

[@mistermagoo8685]

It’s a common spanish last name

[@comlitbeta7532]

Yes! The hermetic order of the golden dawn! The ogdoadic! My first occult rabbit hole. I love them

[@pootsydoodle2326]

Oooh the Order of the Golden Dawn! Really hope we’ll be seeing the Aleistor Crowley vs W.B. Yeats drama!

[@Vanic00]

Been waiting for this one since you announced it.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love to learn more with You guys! You're amazing 😊😊😊😊😊🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@TheMogd0r]

Stoked for next week!!!

[@kaseywashington1477]

I love the way you present history in a fun, interactive way... Like I feel like I'm part of it too 😁😁😁. I hope you're going to continue with the secret societies series...I particularly want to see one about the Priory of Sion 😊

[@MovieFan1912]

I love this series so far.

[@lanasinapayen3354]

Woah, it's not often that a video has 100% new information for me

[@marafiasche1542]

I am really loving this series.

[@mohamadsami7131]

Thanks for sharing this information

[@melkess74]

Aaaahhh really looking forward to next week!

[@ogerpinata1703]

Is the question not rather why do it in the first place? An entire Empire just for the sake of slavery is a stupid idea...

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

Not from their point of view and if you factor it that (I think) it was around that time that the British made a dent in the transatlantic slave trade. Which led to slave owners having to breed their own new slaves. So securing a larger supply didn't sound to crazy to them back then. There was of course also the fallout of having those lands to make a profit. They just wanted to start the 'Manifest Destiny' a little earlier with slightly different goals.

[@Fenrisson]

2:17 - BRAZIL MENTIONED! But not for a nice reason. Still, history must be told. Anyways, much Respect, and Please Come to Brazil.

[@Omniscient_AI]

I can't come to Brazil :/

[@Fenrisson]

@@Omniscient_AI Of course you can! You are an Omniscient AI! You can do anything!

[@THECHEESELORD69]

I had no money for transport to Brazil.

[@Fenrisson]

@@THECHEESELORD69 It's okay. Let's make a kickstarter to get you money to come to Brazil! You can stay at my house, I have an extra matress.

[@BELCAN57]

Hext week: "Tony Orlando and Dawn!" Oh, .....sorry.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nicely done video

[@macaylacayton2915]

*jokes about rob being evil for what he does* Rob:It's okay, I wrote the joke! Me:*laughs* ok

[@sarahwatts7152]

"Bickley" reminds me of Binkley, a character in a PG Wodehouse book...puts him in the right sort of perspective

[@Warnerus2005]

I found it very easy to forget the Knights' racism knowing they had such an incompetent leader. Also, why is it that the worst groups of people have the coolest names and uniforms?

[@eulailalady491]

I love how silly this mini series is its great

[@transbutterflynick3540]

I can’t wait for the golden dawn

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Happy 4/20 guys! 😉😉😉😉😉

[@Jason-fm4my]

Yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the death of Lord Byron too. It's perfect.😊

[@mihrimahsultana1263]

Very interesting I can’t wait to hear about the next secret order?

[@jorgelotr3752]

Yay! The next one is about the guys who overthought a game!

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content guys! Thanks For this! Hearth please 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@johnreed4743]

Damn, you're telling me that an organization founded by Southern racists fell apart due to poor planning and incompetence? I'm shocked. Truly surprised. I never would've seen it coming.

[@litjay7073]

Who would have thought it possible…

[@THECHEESELORD69]

They had us in the first half but it was definitely a twist. 10/10 good movie

[@JustJen1386]

ngl I think this may be my favorite series EH has ever done

[@c0sf337]

Pretty cool that you're doing a video on the GD. Does that mean we can expect future ones on Rosicrucians, and of course Masons? There are some fascinating groups there, especially around the order of Memphis Misraim

[@Error_502notfound]

MORE HISTORY 😊

[@jinhunterslay1638]

The name sounds absolutely badass!

[@Pawnlake]

Nice video

[@itscrajesh]

Hey, I knew about the Knights from a movie!

[@Luffingtoncloak]

If you would, would you do a series on Canadian history, something like the fathers of confederation?

[@wallaroo6510]

The amount of people and resources that flocked to their banner. I shudder to think what they could have achieved if they actually HAD competent leadership...

[@Oxtocoatl13]

Probably not what they set out to do. Even a weakened Mexico was still strong enough to deal with a few thousand armed anglos. Besides, the Mexicans of 1859 had more recent war experience than the Americans and were already mobilized.

[@Artur_M.]

I'm really enjoying this series, but I just had a thought that it's a pity that the Carbonari were not included in it. Oh well, maybe they'll be included in some other series one day.

[@alfonsoalcazar4458]

Still waiting for the episode for ORDO EXTRA HISTORIA

[@Double_D__]

From the sound of it, Bickley must have been taking executive planning lessons from Dutch Van Der Linde.

[@packersare2646]

Im from galveston, ive heard local stories about this before.

[@dr.nosborn6330]

You are really hoing to Brazil this time 😮

[@DaNL-ly8zn]

well for some reason this folks remember me to the Osseus Circle in Age of Empires

[@prettypic444]

Once again proving just how important “state’s rights” and “self determination” were for the confederacy

[@antoniojamora7151]

pls cover the Philippines' Katipunan

[@advaitdhoundiyal435]

A secret society which garners press attention. Ofcourse their plans would DEFINITELY work.

[@Emy0530]

i heard secret order and texas and i knew instantly where this was headed

[@gdhdi5339]

I have often wondered what might have happened if the American civil war expanded outward to include places like Mexico or Cuba, instead of being stubbornly confined to their own borders. Thanks for this brilliant research!