Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society formed to promote interests in South America.

This was to pave the way for annexation of a golden circle of the areas in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to be included in the United States as slave states. Most members were recruited in the Southwest, in Texas, New Mexico Territory and California.

The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret antebellum organization that sought to establish a slave empire encompassing the southern United.

During the Civil War, some Southern sympathizers in northern states like Ohio and Indiana, accused of belonging to the Knights of the Golden Circle. In 1863, there were many citizens and politicians are active in the border areas north of the Ohio River, were members or other organizations, influenced by him.

The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a pre–Civil War, pro-Southern secret society founded in Ohio in 1854 by George W. L. Bickley, a Virginian , who soon moved the KGC.