Deep Pockets Sink Ships: A Scapegoating of Titanic Proportions
Start Date
April 2026
Location
3rd floor - Library
Abstract
This project is my final thesis for my ENGL 499 (Senior Seminar) as an English major at Xavier University (in progress). As the seminar course is themed around Conspiracy, I decided to investigate a debated historical topic of conspiracy. While there are other theories (the boat swap theory), I have chosen to examine why the Rothschild family was selected as a scapegoat for those that believed in the intentional sinking of the Titanic. During the Gilded Age, societal fears of overpowered elites and urban racial integrating rose exponentially, leading to the identification of the Rothschilds as a target. The Rothschild family rose to prominence in the 16th century and built a banking dynasty, supposedly or concretely involved with several international business dealings. They also happen to be Jewish, stereotypically relating to their method of social mobility and their perceived differences from their peers.
Deep Pockets Sink Ships: A Scapegoating of Titanic Proportions
3rd floor - Library
This project is my final thesis for my ENGL 499 (Senior Seminar) as an English major at Xavier University (in progress). As the seminar course is themed around Conspiracy, I decided to investigate a debated historical topic of conspiracy. While there are other theories (the boat swap theory), I have chosen to examine why the Rothschild family was selected as a scapegoat for those that believed in the intentional sinking of the Titanic. During the Gilded Age, societal fears of overpowered elites and urban racial integrating rose exponentially, leading to the identification of the Rothschilds as a target. The Rothschild family rose to prominence in the 16th century and built a banking dynasty, supposedly or concretely involved with several international business dealings. They also happen to be Jewish, stereotypically relating to their method of social mobility and their perceived differences from their peers.
