During the agonizing days of the Civil War four secret political
societies, often known as dark lantern societies, became household
words throughout the North. Three of these groups--the Knights of
the Golden Circle, the Order of American Knights, and the Sons of
Liberty--supposedly were umbrellas for antiwar Democrats and were
reportedly involved in treasonable activities. The Union League, on
the other hand, was a patriotic political organization intent upon
buttressing northern morale and giving support to the war program
of the Lincoln administration. The accusations and counter
accusations that passed between these opposing forces helped spread
fantastic rumors about their power and influence. Treason trials
held in Cincinnati and Indianapolis based convictions on hearsay,
while the leaders of the Order of American Knights and the Knights
of the Golden Circle spent much of the war in prison without
benefit of trial. Today reputable reference sources still
matter-of-factly credit these societies with large memberships and
evil motives.
In Dark Lanterns Frank L Klemment refutes past historical
theories and shows quite clearly that these societies were never
much more then paper-based organizations with vague goals and
little ability to carry them out. Recounting the actual histories
of these organizations, he shows how they were senationalized, even
fictionalized, in both Republican and Democratic newspaper and
magazine expos?s. He also probes the trials arising from the
supposed conspiracy to establish a separate confederacy in the
Midwest and the so-called Camp Douglas conspiracy, which was
intended to release the Confederate prisoners housed there. Despite
the furor they generated, Klement concludes that these dark lantern
societies were essentially engaged in nothing more than a war of
words and that their alleged power was greatly exaggerated by
political propaganda.
Meticulously researched and lucidly argued, Dark Lanterns
explores a controversial and puzzling aspect of the Civil war. It
will be hard to dispute Klements' finding that generations of
historians have swallowed whole a tale that was largely the product
of myth and legend.
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