Running head: A BRIEF HISTORY
A Brief History of Terrorism in the United States
By
Dennis Erb
HLSC 510
Professor Fox
A BRIEF HISTORY 3
A Brief History of Terrorism in the United States
The words terrorism and terrorist came to English as translations of words used in French
during the period known as the Reign of Terror (1793-94), when the new government punished
—usually by death—those people thought to be against the ongoing French Revolution. It was a
gruesome and protracted period of official state-sponsored violence that set the political tone for
much of the use of these words ever since (The History of the Word Terrorism, 2018).
Terrorism, although not necessarily in the same term as it is today, has been around since
the time of the founding fathers. People willing to instill fear and terror in someone, a
community or an entire nation were just as prevalent then as they are now. Terrorism can present
itself in many forms and can be accomplished by many different means. Terrorism is used as a
means of coercion in hopes that the fear that is instilled will result in the needs or wants of the
terrorists being met. However, the definition of terrorism can be different from one person to the
next. Some consider terrorism to be the unlawful use of violence to achieve political influence
or gains. Merriam Webster defines terrorism as the systematic use of terror especially as a means
of coercion (Terrorism, 2018). The most universal accepted definition of terrorism is the use of
violence to create fear (i.e., terror, psychic fear) for political, religious, or ideological reasons
(Matusitz, 2013). Regardless of what you think terrorism is or how it is defined, there is no
doubt that terrorism and terrorist related activities have shaped the definition of homeland
security in America from the founding until today. Even the smallest events that one wouldn’t
necessarily think would be considered a terrorist activity can have a profound effect in a
historical context and can have lasting effects. The following pages will talk about terrorist
activities from the founding of the country until today, some seemingly insignificant and others
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that will end up changing the face of security in America forever. It’s not an exhaustive list but it
will give one and idea of the roots of terror and the struggles that go along with it.
Founding to WWI
Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence to achieve political gains, and its history is as
old as humans' willingness to use violence to achieve political power (Zalman, 2018). While not
necessarily considered terrorism by today’s standards, one of the earliest uses of violence in
response to a disagreement with a political entity would be that of the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
Upset with the new taxation imposed by Parliament on commodities such as lead, paper, paint,
glass and tea, a group called the Sons of Liberty, lead by Samuel Adams, boarded ships loaded
with tea and dumped all of it into Boston Harbor (Hickman, 2017). While not exactly having the
effect that it had hoped for, it became the precursor to the American Revolution.
Within this descriptive paper of terrorism, I am going to add something that I feel
strongly encompasses the very idea of terror. It could also be seen as one of the very first
examples of “lone wolf” terrorism. April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the private box of
President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater and shot him in the back of the head. This came
shortly after the surrender of the Confederate Army to the Union Army, which ended the Civil
War. If the act of terrorism includes the ability to instill fear into people, nothing could have
done that more than the assassination of Lincoln. The entire country, especially those who had
just come through the deadliest war in our nation’s history, feared that Lincoln’s assassination
could spark the start of another war. Thankfully, it didn’t, however, Booth’s actions stand as an
excellent example of a lone wolf attack, of which will become more common place in the future.
With the invention of dynamite in 1867, a whole new world of fear opened up in the
spectacle of terrorism. Although the means and methods of such attacks have changed
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dramatically, there have been few more jarring images of this country’s social and political
upheaval than those left in the wake of an exploded bomb (The American Prospect, 2018). One
of the first uses of explosives in an act of terror occurred on May 4, 1886 in Chicago, IL. Known
as the Haymarket Affair, labor protestors (anarchists) detonated a bomb during a rally in
Haymarket Square. This set of a chain of events that included a riot, which led police to start
shooting into the crowd. In the end, eleven people died and scores more were injured. Eight
people were convicted of the terrorist act with four of those being put to death (Mihm, 2016).
On October 1, 1910, a bomb ripped apart the building of the L.A. Times in Los Angeles.
The blast ignited several tons of printing ink that were stored in the building which led to the
building being engulfed in flames. Twenty people died along with seventeen people who had
been injured. The publisher immediately placed the blame for the bombing on labor activists,
and as a result, Los Angeles imposed anti-picketing laws which allowed Los Angeles police
officers to make hundreds of arrests (Los Angeles Almanac, 2018).
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