Knights of the Switch: A Study of the White Caps and Their Violent Resistance to Social and Moral Change in the United States

Abstract

Beginning in the 1870s, multiple secret vigilante groups were formed across the United States to violently resist the changing social and moral standards of the country. These groups, collectively known as White Caps, originated in Southern Indiana, and later spread across the United States in the last part of the nineteenth century, committing brutal acts of terrorism against anyone whom the group deemed a threat to the moral and social standards of their specific community.