How a Conspiracy Theory Sparked a Revolution in Maryland

United States of Paranoia coverage.

Weekend Edition aired an interview with me this morning; the topic was my book The United States of Paranoia. NPR has posted the interview here and an excerpt from the book here. Here's an excerpt from that excerpt:

In Maryland—the only colony in English America to be ruled by Catholics, though it had a predominantly Protestant population—a rumor started to circulate [in 1689] that "the great men of Maryland hath hired the Seneca Indians to kill the protestants." Ten thousand Seneca Indians were said to be gathering at the head of the Patuxent River; when that army turned out to be a fiction, a new report claimed that 9,000 were gathered at the mouth of the river and another 900 had already invaded a settlement. One man swore that he had overheard some drunken Eastern Shore Indians blabbing that a man on the Provincial Council had hired them to attack the colonists. The rumors cooled down for a spell when the invasion didn't materialize, only to flare up again when the colony's government failed to recognize the new king and queen of England. A Protestant agitator named John Coode raised an army, seized the State House, and installed himself as the new governor of Maryland. The colony then banned Catholic worship, a restriction that would not be lifted until after the American Revolution.

In other news:

• I'm scheduled to be interviewed about this conspiracy stuff on MSNBC sometime between 2:30 and 3 today, Eastern time.

• I was also interviewed recently on The Michael Medved Show.

• And also on the Cato Institute's daily podcast.

• Speaking of Cato: the institute's Gene Healy has written some nice things about The United States of Paranoia here. Healy, Sam Tanenhaus, and I will discuss the book at a forum in D.C. this coming Wednesday; you can RSVP for that here.

Comments

[Plopper]

Never buying your book.

[jesse.in.mb]

You mean "never again buying your book," no? We all know you have a copy for each article posted promoting the book.

[Killazontherun]

My brother bought a physical copy. I'm holding Reamde hostage for the eventual exchange.

[Almanian!]

I'll buy another one to make up for Plopper.

[sarcasmic]

You know who else wrote a book?

[Fatty Bolger]

Too broad.

How about, "You know who else wrote a book filled with paranoid conspiracy theories?"

[Eduard van Haalen]

Thomas Frank?

[Almanian!]

Your mom?

[BakedPenguin]

Howard Zinn?

[Free Society]

oh I was going to say that

[BakedPenguin]

Should have been here 7 hours ago, broham.

[Voros McCracken]

God?

[AlmightyJB]

That story was very interesting. I wish someone would write a book about that kind of stuff.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The Catholics were not only banned from public worship, they were excluded from public office.

Interesting postscript - the wealthy Carroll family of planters, with politics closed off to them, went into moneylending (no persecuted minority ever did *that* before!). Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a scion of the family, grew up hating the "Glorious" Revolution for what it did to his people, and when the Revolution freed Catholics from their disabilities he became a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Outlived the other signers, too.

[Killazontherun]

From excluded to the exclusive club of Republicans who can get nominated to the Supreme Court.

On top of the world, ma!

[BakedPenguin]

Well, maybe, but Pope Alexander III would not have been happy with them.

[Eduard van Haalen]

So Pope Alexander III is like WomSom - never happy about anything?

[BakedPenguin]

So far as I know, WomSom never excommunicated anyone. But my theological knowledge is admittedly lacking.

[BakedPenguin]

Seriously, though, the history of how usury became acceptable to the Christian church is pretty interesting. (Or seems pretty interesting, just based on a few Wikipedia articles. Now I have to look for a full history.)

[Scarecrow Repair]

Jesse -- let me see if I got this straight: I have finally ordered ny own physical copy (kindle doesn't save enough for me to trust Amazon to not delete it someday). Some of these postings are excerpts of excerpts, but some are "based on" -- do those have any additional material, or can I just click the links to raise your profile and then close the tab without actually reading them?

[Jesse Walker]

The Washington Post piece was just about all new material; the Wall Street Journal piece had a little bit of new stuff at the top. The others are all pretty much entirely drawn from the book, though with a sentence or phrase occasionally added here or there to clarify something that isn't explained in the extract.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Thanks -- I want to save some surprises for when the book gets here 🙂

[jester]

'The Sot-Weed Factor'. Now that was a great take on conspiracies theories in early Maryland.

[Jesse Walker]

I disliked Giles Goat-Boy so much that I never bothered to read anything else by Barth. Is The Sot-Weed Factor notably better?

[Warren]

Jesus Jesse. Have you ever given a thought to working the mens room at airports and bus stations? At least you wouldn't have to demean yourself by going on Weekend Edition.

[cavalier973]

OT:

Homosexual baker forced by Oregon to bake a cake for the Westboro Baptist Church. As it turns out, putting "God Hates Fags" on a cake is an example of religious expression, and cannot be used as a reason to refuse to do business.

[cavalier973]

Why, oh why didn't he just say that he had to wash his hair that day, or something, amirite?

[cavalier973]

"Tolerance Enforcement Commissioner Brad Avakian disagreed: "We are committed to a fair and thorough investigation to determine whether there's substantial evidence of unlawful discrimination," he told the Oregonian. "The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate. For those who do violate the law, we want them to learn from that experience and have a good, successful business in Oregon. Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs, but that doesn't mean that folks have the right to discriminate," he said."

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/gay.....9UYrAs2.99

[cavalier973]

It's a joke article, by the way.

[jesse.in.mb]

One can gather that from it being a World Net Daily link.

[jester]

I've never known anyone I have given this book to not like it. I've tried to read other Barth works but never could finish them. Sot Weed is fantastic and you'll probably enjoy it more after researching your book. Your mention of Coode triggered my memory on this.

[Jesse Walker]

Thanks. I'll have to give it a try.

[Marshall Gill]

You and me both, Lardo, you and me both.

[Goldwin Smith]

You Know Who Else had a revolution?

[Almanian!]

The Beatles?