Abstract:
The Invisible Empire is a euphemism for the Ku Klux Klan. Following the Civil War the KKK was rooted both in the Piedmont and western portion of the state. In the east the focal counties were Alamance, Caswell, and Orange and western counties were Cleveland and Rutherford. KKK actions became so disruptive that Governor William W. Holden declared these counties under a state of insurrection and sent Colonel George W. Kirk with troops in 1870, an incident known better as the Kirk-Holden war.