could you enlighten those of us ignorant of the knights of the golden circle?
the knights of the golden circle were supposedly a secret group of Southern sympathizers in the North
The Knights of the Golden Circle was an organization that was loosely based upon, and strongly influenced by, the Freemasons. Its purpose was originally to assure the success of Southern secession; but when it became clear that the South would lose the Civil War, its mission transformed into securing enough wealth and influence to allow a future (successful) effort at Southern secession. To that end, it accumulated a great deal of wealth (many millions, perhaps billions, in today's dollars), and buried that wealth at secret locations across the South and Southwest. Most of this treasure remains to be found.
The Knights of the Golden Circle counted as its members many influential and famous Americans of the 19th century. Albert Pike, the worldwide head of Scottish Rite freemasonry in the mid-19th century, Jefferson Davis, and Judah P. Benjamin (secretary of War for the Confederacy) were members. So was, apparently, the aforementioned Stanton of Lincoln's cabinet. The famous outlaw Jesse James was also a member; his robberies were conducted not to enrich himself, but to fund the treasuries of KGC. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that secessionist acts that started the Civil War were planned by the KGC. The organization was tremendously influential in the 19th century, and it is all the more amazing that most people don't know much about it.
I strongly urge you to read the book Shadow of the Sentinel. If you have any interest in American history, you won't be able to put it down...it's a compelling tale.