What was Americas first terrorist threat?
Thanks to radical groups like Germany’s Red Army Faction, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Irish Republican Army and American-bred terrorists like the Weathermen and the Ku Klux Klan, “terrorism” became a household word in the Western world around 1950. Regardless of their political, religious or financial motives, what characterizes terrorist groups is their willingness to involve civilians in unconventional warfare. By threatening public safety, terrorists place ordinary people in the middle of a conflict — often between the organization and the establishment it’s fighting. The history of terrorism in the United States climaxed on Sept. 11, 2001, when Muslim jihadists flew hijacked airliners into buildings in New York and Washington and into a Pennsylvania field. But America’s acquaintance with terrorism began centuries before, immediately after the colonies gained independence from England and became a nation. These terrorists operated along the North African coast — t
