Conspiracy Theory: Nothing New Under the Sun

"The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America" (i.e., the Declaration of Independence) was adopted on 4 July, 1776, mere days after the 2 July vote by the Second Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain. (Despite the Declaration's adoption on this date, the famous document on display in the District of Columbia wasn't drafted until after 19 July, and most of the representatives didn't sign until 2 August).

By this point, the American Revolutionary War had been going on for more than a year already (incidents sparking the war including the Boston Massacre and the Battles of Lexington and Concord between British troops and American militiamen. The American regular army was established (on paper, if not actually in practice) in June of 1775).

On 1 May, 1776, the secret society that would become known as the Bavarian Illuminati was founded with the dedication to "the systematic and stealthy conquest of nations, one by one, and ultimately the entire world" (Link. Further reference: Payson, Seth, Proof of the Illuminati, The Invisible College Press, LLC, 2003 (first published in Charlestown: Etheridge, 1802), ISBN 1931468141)

Ignoring, for the moment, the obvious Masonic symbolism inherent in many of the most notable symbols of the United States, does the confluence of these dates - 1 May and 4 July 1776 seem suspicious to anyone else? During the 1770s, the British Empire was one of the strongest nations in Europe, with it's colonial Empire stretching from the new world to India and Asia (serious inroads into Africa had not yet been made). The 1763 Treaty of Paris had effectively ended France's participation as a viable colonial power in the New World, and increasing political turmoil would lead to the French Revolution less than a decade after the American one ended.

Bavaria was, after the resolution of the Thirty Years War, one of the strongest states of the Holy Roman Empire (the Prince-Elector of Bavaria was essential in selecting, and was second in power only to, the Holy Roman Emperor), of with Prussia was also a part. Prussian soldiers fought on the side of the Colonists during the American Revolution.

The connections between these facts should be clear - imbittered by the weakened state in which the Thirty Years War left the Holy Roman Empire, Catholic militants from Prussia, under a Bavarian directive, assisted revolutionary American colonists in defeating the British forces in the American colonies, thus weakening the strength of Protestant-led Britain, thus pursuing the "systematic and stealthy conquest of nations" as intended by the Bavarian Illuminati.

Unfortunately for the Illuminati, their actions were curtailed. The Elector Palatine, Karl Theodor came to power in Bavaria and in 1785 created "The Secular Edict" which, in part, banned all secret societies from operating in Bavaria. No longer able to operate in public, the Bavarian Illuminati could no longer be as bold in their actions, and (according to most reputable sources) experienced its downfall shortly thereafter. Further, the unexpected aftermath of the French Revolution that led to the Napoleonic Wars (which resulted in the French conquest of much of the old Holy Roman Empire) further weakened the Bavarian tradition.

PLUR!