Terrorism in American History

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course examines the role of terrorism in US history from the colonial era to the present day. Examining a wide range of violent networks and movements, we will consider how domestic and international terrorism have historically shaped national security considerations, immigration law, and the US criminal code. This course also introduces an interdisciplinary body of scholarship on terrorism and train students in researching FBI files, federal legislation, related government documents, and terrorism databases. Perhaps most importantly, we will consider the different ways that terrorists have challenged US commitments to the constitutional freedoms of speech, press, and association. Bombers, assassins, international terror networks, and online extremists have long tested the limits of American freedom. Sometimes, these actors have led public officials to weigh individual liberty against public safety and (inter)national security. The course focuses on US history since 1865, but we will spend the first three weeks exploring the deep roots of American terrorism in the colonial, early American, and antebellum pasts. Historians, sociologists, political scientists, criminologists, behavioral scientists, public officials, and even literary scholars debate the meaning of “terrorism.” Our class will develop and refine our own working definition, which will help us analyze how terrorism has shaped US life, law, and culture over the centuries.