Online Class: History's Greatest Conspiracies

In this course, we will examine some of the most influential conspiracy theories in history, dealing with some of the world's most historic events, such as the NASA Moon Landing, the assassination of John K. Kennedy, the horrific Tuskegee Experiments, top secret government programs, and even the conspiracy behind the Loch Ness Monster. 

By its very definition, conspiracy means to form an "agreement" among people.  In this case, it is an agreement, usually, to deceive.  There are two views of history:  an accidental view and a conspiratorial view.  In the first view, people do not conspire to affect history.  In this view, catastrophes and other monumental events happen as a result of natural forces.  In the conspiratorial view, a small group of people exert their power to directly affect an outcome that will increase their power or benefit themselves in other ways.

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

American History Review

Philosophy 101

American Wars: American Revolution and Civil War

Course Motivation

Students of history are usually taught the accidental view of history, especially in democratic countries with a free press, open government, and non-government controlled media. Such a view is always accurate for weather catastrophes, but many conspiracy theorists will argue that it provides an unrealistic view of the world. They believe that it is irresponsible to teach students that humans have no role in shaping humanity and the course of the world's events. 

In the conspiratorial view of history, wars are planned with precision long before the first battle is fought. There are many who believe that the reasons for war are most especially planned in secret by those who control the balance of power. A carefully planned assassination, for example, could be the defining moment in a country's history, which leads it to declare war on another nation. This has been the case many times throughout history. The assassination is simply the catalyst for getting involved in war. A conspiracy is planned and executed by a small group of people, and its details are intended to remain secret. The public might believe that the assassination occurred "accidentally," or by one person acting on his or her own behalf. But the truth, in this example, would be that humans affected the course of events by forming an agreement to change an outcome. 

The lack of evidence of the conspiracy is not at all important for many conspiracy theorists. In fact, a lack of evidence has almost no effect on many theorists' firmly held beliefs. They claim that most carefully planned conspiracies are carried out by skillful agents of, for example, the government. The lack of evidence, they claim, should not detract from the possibility that a conspiracy was planned. Many conspiracies are planned by what is commonly referred to as "the hidden hand." If something is hidden, facts are often scarce. 

Some conspiracy theories reach a "cult status" among many people and sometimes the lack of evidence intensifies the attention that is given to the theory. The more secretive a supposed plan is, the more attention it garners. When something reaches cult status, the facts of the case often get blurred and become irrelevant. 

An example of a theory that has reached cult status is the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Nearly every American knows something about the assassination, even those born many years after the President's death. But, the amount of information that was produced from the investigation is - literally - mind boggling. In such a haze of information, people form an opinion based on emotions and their own intuition. In the case of Kennedy's murder, everyone has an opinion regardless of what they actually know about the case. Such is the case with most conspiracy theories. 

Conspiracy theories are not always concentrated around events such as those that occur in seconds, like a murder or a theft. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the Great Depression started. Lives of millions of Americans (and global citizens) were irrevocably altered. The accidental view of history dictates that the Depression occurred because stocks' value plummeted on this single day. But, for many conspiracy theorists, the Depression, and other economic conditions throughout history, was the carefully planned culmination of a plot hatched in secret over the course of many months or years. 

Massive amounts of wealth were lost during the Depression, but not by everyone. Wealth was transferred from a huge middle and lower class to the upper class. While some wealthy business  people did fare badly in the Depression, many strengthened their position in society. The purpose of the Depression, theorists claim, was to transfer wealth and power from a large number of people to a small group of individuals who wanted to exercise more control over United States commerce.

Power is sometimes the only goal in forming a conspiracy. Wealth and material fortune does not necessarily have to be an essential element of a conspiracy's goal. Some people have all the money they need or want. In these cases, they desire power only. Nearly everyone has heard the expression "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." The acquisition of great power, through natural means or by a conspiracy, often leads the holders of such power to become ruthless and intoxicated by their position. They will have no regard for the lives of others, theorists claim, as long as their agenda is met. 

But many ordinary citizens cannot bring themselves to accept the possibility that a small group of people intentionally cause such horrific events as the Great Depression. This sense of morality actually helps the conspiracy, according to many theorists. If it is unconscionable to think that humans might have caused something to happen, this disbelief might, in fact, offer some element of immunity to the people who actually did plan such an event.

What conditions create conspiracy theories in the first place? For most people, dissatisfaction with their government or with authority causes them to regard official explanations as suspicious. These people are fiercely independent and sometimes highly intelligent, but they refuse to accept the word of a government who might have caused them harm.

Boredom is another cause for many conspiracy theories. As we will see, when we examine the case of one of the biggest conspiracies in Scottish history – the Loch Ness Monster – millions of dollars are at stake in simply maintaining a theory's existence in popular culture.

Most conspiracy theories cannot be proved or disproved, hence their allure in popular culture and history. They will always be a part of our history and, while some should be regarded with a healthy dose of suspicion, they should also not be uniformly discounted.