Abstract:
An examination of the origin and role of the Civil War secret organization The Heroes of America (also called Red Strings) composed of Southern Unionists dedicated to overthrowing the Confederacy as well as being involved in wartime and reconstruction politics. It originated and derived most of its support from the central piedmont North Carolina, in the so-called \"Quaker Belt,\" and had perhaps 10,000 members in the state, drawn primarily from the white lower classes.