Google "DId the cia invent the phrase conspiracy theory" And read. It first appeared in print in 1870
The
Oxford English Dictionary defines
conspiracy theory as "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties;
spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event". It cites a 1909 article in
The American Historical Review as the earliest usage example,
[34][35] although it also appeared in print as early as April 1870.
[36] The word "conspiracy" derives from the Latin
con- ("with, together") and
spirare ("to breathe").
Robert Blaskiewicz comments that examples of the term were used as early as the nineteenth century and states that its usage has always been derogatory.
[37] According to a study by Andrew McKenzie-McHarg, in contrast, in the nineteenth century the term
conspiracy theory simply "suggests a plausible postulate of a conspiracy" and "did not, at this stage, carry any connotations, either negative or positive", though sometimes a postulate so-labeled was criticized.
[38] The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the subject of a conspiracy theory, which claims the term was popularized by the
CIA in order to discredit conspiratorial believers, particularly critics of the
Warren Commission, by making them a target of ridicule.
[39] In his 2013 book
Conspiracy Theory in America, political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith suggested that the term entered everyday language in the United States after 1964, the year in which the Warren Commission published its findings on the
Kennedy assassination, with
The New York Times running five stories that year using the term.
[40] However, deHaven-Smith's suggestion has been criticized by Michael Butter, a Professor of American Literary and Cultural History at the
University of Tübingen, on the grounds that a CIA document which deHaven-Smith referenced,
Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report – which was publicly released in 1976 after a
Freedom of Information Act request – does not contain the phrase "conspiracy theory" in the singular, and only mentions "conspiracy theories" once, in the sentence "Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organisation [sic], for example, by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us."
[41]
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