"conspiracy theory" antedating

[Garson O'Toole]

Mark Mandel said:
> I don't think "unexplained" needs to be in there. ISTM that many conspiracy
> theories include the assertion that "Everything you know is wrong", that a
> well known and generally accepted explanation for an event is really a
> cover-up promulgated by the conspirators.

Excellent point. Later in the same 1872 article there is evidence that
the proposed conspiracy theory conforms to the pattern you suggest:

But our conspiracy theory will be hooted at and derided. The facts
supporting it will be denied and the arguments laughed at, just as
were the facts and arguments which, for years, pointed to the
existance of a conspiracy to dissolve the Union and erect a slave
confederacy upon its ruin.

Citation: Logansport Weekly Journal, Logansport, Indiana, 1872-08-31

Garson O'Toole

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