The Random House Dictionary defines hysteria as “an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear.”  As shown throughout the essays in this website, hysteria has been the cause of much unjust treatment, rash decisions, and wrongful accusations many times throughout American history.  Just as a porcupine releases its quills when it feels threatened by a predator, Americans, when faced with the realization that they are not safe in their own homes, can make many hasty decisions based solely on their protection and security.

As previously discussed, the Salem Witch Trials is a prime example of this hysteria.  When the citizens of Salem Village received news that witchcraft was taking place in their village and could possibly do harm to them, their families, and their property, they went into a state of panic.  Soon the slightest event such as illness or crop failure was blamed on witchcraft.  The people of the village were accusing their neighbors, those they have known for years, of witchcraft.  This hysteria led to the deaths of twenty-four people and the imprisonment of roughly two hundred more. Douglas Linder stresses, “The witches disappeared, but witch-hunting in America did not. Each generation must learn the lessons of history or risk repeating its mistakes.  Salem should warn us to think hard about how to best safeguard and improve our system of justice.”

As Linder stated, “witchhunting” did not come to an end and the United States found itself making the same mistakes yet again.  After the attack of Pearl Harbor carried out by the Imperial Army of Japan, the United States went into a state of hysteria.

Within hours of the news from Hawaii, FBI agents, many without evidence, search or arrest warrants, conducted house to house roundups of 1,212 Issei (first-generation Japanese immigrants) in Hawaii and the mainland.  They were prominent leaders in the Japanese-American communities: priests, teachers in language schools, officers of community organizations, and newspaper editors. Often they were arrested in the middle of the night, taken to unknown destinations, and treated as prisoners of war.[1] 

This all happen within hours of the attack.  The American public feared the Japanese in the aspect that they could easily release secrets to the enemy and jeopardize the safety of the United States.  Eventually, entire families of Japanese descent were shipped of to internment camps, where they lived for years.

            Then again, in the 1950s, the United States fell into hysteria when confronted with the possibility that communism could take over the country.  After WWII, the United States feared that there were communist spies in the country giving away national secrets.  They dreaded that the spies had attained the formula for the atomic bomb.  Communism was taking over country after country, and with American secrets in their grips, national security was at its all-time low.  This spread tremendous fear across the country and this is when the hysteria hit.  Senator Joseph McCarthy took this hysteria to and even greater level.  McCarthy convinced the American public that communism was taking over the United States and that they would not be safe until all the communists were flushed out.  McCarthy said things like, ““Our job as Americans and as Republicans is to dislodge the traitors from every place where they have been sent to do their traitorous work” and "Traitors are not gentlemen, my good friends. They don't understand being treated like gentlemen."  He had a list of possible American communists.  One by one the people on his list were questioned much like the Salem Witch Trials.  Many reputations were destroyed and many jobs were lost.[2]

The happenings in the United States today are in many ways related to the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, Japanese-American Internment, and McCarthyism.  When the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001 and the footage was aired on practically every television station, the American citizens went into a state of panic and hysteria.  Just like the hysteria that caused the Salem Witch trials, Japanese-American Internment, and McCarthyism, their safety was jeopardized and they were willing to go to extremes to remain safe.  Rash decisions were made in short period of time.  The country was in a state of panic.  Cell phones were not working because of the millions of calls trying to be made.  Gas prices rose drastically high; people waited in hour-long lines to fill up their vehicles before the gas supply would vanish.  Parents were taking their children out of school to keep them safe at home due to the fear that terrorists would attack schools (a symbol of America’s future).  Then, within days, Congress passed the U.S. Patriot Act.  Congress actually passed the USA Patriot Act only 45 days after the attacks on September 11, 2001.  Due to the hysteria at the time Congress passed this major piece of legislation with practically no debate.[3]

Many parts of this sweeping legislation take away checks on law enforcement and threaten the very rights and freedoms that we are struggling to protect. For example, without a warrant and without probable cause, the FBI now has the power to access your most private medical records, your library records, and your student records... and can prevent anyone from telling you it was done.[4]

Just as in the past, the United States even today is guilty of acting irrationally in a time of crisis.  The United States is still in a sense hysterical when it comes to their protection.  This hysteria comes from terrorism and terrorist attacks on the United States.  President Bush notes,

…A time when danger was real and growing, but we didn't know it. A time when some thought terrorism was only a ‘nuisance.’  But that very attitude is what blinded America to the war being waged against us. And by not seeing the war, our government had no comprehensive strategy to fight it. September the 11th, 2001 changed all that. We realized that the apparent security of the 1990s was an illusion.

The United States needs to be careful not repeat the mistakes that she has made in the past. Just as history shows, the best choices are not always made, when faced with serious issues that question the safety of American citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) warns, “America's credibility as a beacon of democracy and fairness is steadily diminishing.”  Looking back to the quote from Douglas Linder, where he urges the United States to learn from its mistakes, let us hope that the leaders of this country follow Linder’s advice and use the valuable lessons that we have learned from the tragedies of the Salem Witch Trials, Japanese Internment, and McCarthyism.  in conclusion, using the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

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