The Cooping Theories Of The Death Of Edgar Allan Poe

As the mysterious man he was, Poe continued his enigmatic nature until his death. For centuries now, the cause of Edgar Allan Poe’s passing has remained a mystery. From a brain tumor to being murdered by his soon-to-be brother-in-law, many theories have risen out of his death. But one theory that proves itself to be the most plausible is the “Cooping Theory.” What it details is that Poe was pulled into a cooping scheme, most likely unwillingly. Then he was beaten and force-fed with alcohol, and he became very suggestive. He was then used for as many votes as they could, causing him to go missing for a number of days. After being hurt and made to drink alcohol for multiple days, it left him in a weak, possibly close to death, state. When it

First of all, what was cooping, and would it even be plausible for that to happen to Poe? Well, co-oping was the practice of dressing people up in different outfits to register them as multiple voters. After that, they’d be able to vote for a certain candidate with all the different identities. While it was “highly illegal [it] apparently [was an] extremely common form of voter fraud” (Did you know.). If it was so prohibited, why was it so popular? Well, unlike voting in the 21st century, it was extremely easy to commit voter fraud back in the 19th century, the century Poe lived in. Modern technology has, at the very least, decreased voter fraud by a large margin. The systems and processes for voting have become a lot more secure, and trying to pass someone off as multiple people wasn’t as simple as dressing them up. However, making someone just look a little different was more than enough to count them as a different person and take their vote in the 19th century. With just a simple switch-up, it was no wonder it was so popular. From here, it’s important to take note that elections were going on in the U.S. around the time Poe

So, that begs the question: why couldn’t Poe be someone they grabbed? Near his death, Poe wasn’t doing too great. While he was engaged, he was still dealing with the depression of his last wife’s death and other life problems. “Major themes in his early life included death and loss and an unrequited need for respect from his stepfather” (“The Troubled Life.”). With so much grief in his life, Poe often turned to alcohol. Someone so stricken with grief and a known alcoholic would seem very likely to be prayed upon, right? It’s entirely possible that a week after Election Day, Poe went to a bar to drown his sorrows. And it’s very well known that Poe’s “body could not tolerate alcohol,” meaning after just one drink he could have become very vulnerable (“Poe & Alcoholism”). Someone weak and meager, already under the influence, like Poe, would be an easy target for Cooper. Even if Poe was famous at that point, just because someone is famous doesn’t mean they can’t be subjected to an attack. And, as aforementioned, Poe was in the perfect state to be taken and was in no way able to fight