ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the time from the seventeenth to the middle of the twentieth century and addresses the period from the late 1950s to the turn of the millennium. The conspiracy theory stabilised the Puritan community because it located the conspirators – except for the occasional witch or heretic – firmly on the outside. The fate of the Red Scare conspiracy theory effectively exemplifies the shift in status that conspiracy theories underwent in American culture around 1960. The shift from orthodox to heterodox knowledge constitutes the most important caesura in the history of American conspiracy theories. The rise of the Internet has, without doubt, had a tremendous impact on conspiracy theorising in the USA and elsewhere. Often, the dawn of the digital age is perceived as yet another step in the mainstreaming of conspiracy theory since the 1960s. Importantly, the Internet has facilitated the emergence of counter-publics with their own media outlets and experts.
