Conspiracy Theories About Our Founding Fathers

Conspiracy Theories About Our Founding Fathers

Steve - August 3, 2019

Conspiracy Theories About Our Founding Fathers
The reverse side of the United States One-Dollar Bill, illustrating the great seal of the United States of America (c. 1935). Wikimedia Commons.

8. The design of the one-dollar bill actually carries Christian motifs and Freemason symbolism

First issued in 1862, carrying a portrait of then-Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, the present format of the reverse side of the one-dollar bill stems from a redesign dating to 1935, making the bill the oldest overall design still in use by the United States. The highest production bill, accounting for forty-two percent as of 2009 and with more than twelve billion such bills in distribution as of 2017, the one-dollar note is one of most iconic symbols of the United States. Although carrying a portrait of George Washington on the obverse, the reverse side displays the Great Seal of the United States, as originally designed in 1782.

Provoking sustained conspiracy theories surrounding the placement of the Eye of Providence above a pyramid and the involvement of secret societies in American government, the one-dollar bill has served as a focal point of Freemasonry hypotheses for decades. However, whilst entertaining, the Eye – although today a common Masonic motif – was not during the late-18th century, but was instead a prominent Christian symbol during the Renaissance. Similarly, none of the four individuals responsible for contributing to the designs were affiliated at all with the order. Furthermore, logical reasoning dictates a secret organization would never so blatantly advertise their covert control over the American nation.

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