American Conspiracies, 1600-1865

Catalog description

Witches. Cannibals. Popish plots. Mountains of silver and gold. Smallpox blankets. Slave uprisings. Evil ministers. Traitors. Barbarians. Mercenaries. Freemasons. Illuminati. Catholics. Freedom. Slavery. Tyranny. Race war. In this course, we will examine the conspiracies that swirled around early America among the European, Indigenous, and African people of who slept, ate, worked, and fought alongside and against each other. These diverse peoples tried to make sense of their rapidly changing world with the information at hand. Particularly in times of war and instability, rumors ran rampant. Whether these stories were true or false is less important than the fact that real people supposed that they might be true. These stories captured people’s imaginations because they reflected some of their hopes and fears. Only conspiracies that matched people’s expectations would continue to grow. Even false stories had to ring true to continue to circulate and propagate. And sometimes, the stories were all too true. Through a variety of primary and secondary sources, we will study these rumors, conspiracies, and hoaxes of the period not to assess their factual accuracy but to consider why people in early America believed they were possible, plausible, and even likely. The sliver of plausibility and possibility that our early American historical subjects found in these conspiracies will be our way into their political, social, religious, and cultural worlds.