Thumbnail History of Terrorism in the United States
There is no universal agreement among Americans about the first act of terrorism on their own soil, nor is there any continuous history of terrorism by one particular actor in American history. Rather, at different points in time, American groups have used violent tactics to make their political point, and these have been variously called revolutionary, extremist or terrorist.
When defined as the threat or execution of violence to people or property in order to bring about political change, celebrated events such as the 1773 Boston Tea Party can appear to be terrorism, while later events commonly called terrorism, such as the UNABOMBER attacks (a long campaign of letter bombing by a former mathematics professor, Theodore Kaczynski) may not have been (because the political rationale was unclear).
Terrorism was a periodic event in the early years of the American republic. The Klu Klux Klan, a white supremicist organization formed at the end of the Civil War, and revived in the 1920s, was the first to systematically use terrorist tactics to enforce its political vision. In the early twentieth century, communist and anarchist groups turned to terrorism to announce their opposition to the rise of industrial capitalism.
Terrorist tactics briefly became nearly commonplace among the discontented Vietnam generation. By the 1990s, the greater challenge came from Christian right wing groups eager to undermine the U.S. government by force. There have also been a number of other fringe interests who have been committed to violence, including anti-Castro Cubans, Puerto Rican groups seeking national independence, Jewish extremists, and animal rights groups. The 1993 truck bombing at the World Trade Center was the first act of international terrorism on American soil. The 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was the most lethal terrorist attack in the country to date.
The United States has also been accused of being a state sponsor of terrorism by both domestic and foreign critics of its use of force in other parts of the world.
Latest News
Terrorism related news in the United States flows largely through the topic of the Global War on Terror, which President Bush announced following the 9/11 attacks. As of November, 2007, there have been relatively few widely reported domestic or international attacks on U.S. soil. According to the FBI, there were 24 domestic terrorism incidents between 2002 and 2005. Of these, 23 were by animal rights or environmentalist groups. The 24th was the firebombing of a synagogue by white supremacists in Oklahoma City.Key Events
There have been many domestic attacks in the United States by individuals, groups and militias. These are only a representative few.
1773: Boston Tea Party (Sons of Liberty)
1920: Wall Street Bombings (Anarchists Suspected)
1961: National Airlines Flight Hijacking (Puerto Rican nationalist Antuilo Ramierez Ortiz)
1974: Kidnapping of Patricia Hearst (Symbionese Liberation Army)
1975: State Department Bombing (Weather Underground)
1993: World Trade Center Bombing (Ramzi Yusuf and others)
1995: Oklahoma City Bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building ( anti government militia member Timothy McVeigh)
1998: Anti Abortion Assassination of Dr. Barnett Slepian (James C. Kopp)
2001: 9/11 Attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon (Al Qaeda)
Selected Homegrown Terrorist Groups and Individuals
Animal Liberation Front (1976; English based with adherents in the U.S.)Army of God
Aryan Republican Army
Black Liberation Army (1960s – 1980s)
Black Revolutionary Assault Team (1971)
Covenant Sword and Arm of the Lord (1978)
Jewish Defense League (1968)
Klu Klux Clan (1866)
Michael Bray (Army of God)
Symbionese Liberation Army & Patty Hearst
Up the IRS, Inc. (mid-1980s)
Weathermen (Weather Underground)(1969)
United States and the War on Terror
The United States named its post-9/11 attack counterterrorism effor the Global War on Terror. To date, that effort has combined military and public diplomacy efforts on nearly every continent.
To learn more about the U.S. led War on Terror:
