Old world contours : revolutionary politics and the secret society tradtion -- The brotherhood of the Union : George Lippard and the Palestine of redeemed labor -- Universal Democratic Republicans : Hugh Forbes and Transatlantic antislavery radicalism -- Lone stars and golden circles : the manifest destiny of George W.L. Bickley -- Higher laws : the fulcrum of African American national identity -- Decisive means : political violence and national self-definition -- The counterfeit nation : the KGC, secession, and the Confederate experience -- The republic saved : secret societies and the survival of the union -- Long shadows : lineages of the secret society tradition in America.