Concept Of Mass Hysteria

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During the early 1600s, many colonists arrived and settled in Early America where they established colonies. These colonies were ruled by their mother country, Britain, but after the French and Indian War, they were heavily taxed and no longer wanted to be a part of England. Eventually, the colonists grew tired of being controlled by Britain and decided to break away and become their own country. In order to gain their freedom and ultimately impact the development of Revolutionary America, many colonists used the concept of mass hysteria and the human characteristic, courage, in order to gain their freedom. To show their discontent for the taxes, many colonists’ minds were instilled with the concept of mass hysteria and fought back against …show more content…

This concept was present in many colonists’ actions throughout the journey to accomplish Revolutionary America. The article, Colonial Crowds Protest the Stamp Act states, “...Towards dark some thousands proceeded to Oliver’s Dock, where there was a new brick building just finished; and [because they thought it was] a “Stamp Office” instantly set about demolishing it…” (Boston Gazette Newspaper). Crowd action was often many colonists’ way of intimidating or opposing Britain and its law. The specific example relating to the Stamp Act showed that the colonists were unhappy with it and were set on doing whatever it would take in order to have it repealed. Propaganda also played an important role in the process of mass hysteria. In Paul Revere’s famous engraving of the Boston Massacre, he depicts the British soldiers, also known as redcoats, shooting the helpless colonists (The Boston Massacre Engraving). This engraving became one of the most popular ones known throughout history because at the time, most colonists were illiterate and this image helped them to understand what happened. Mass hysteria was incorporated into both propaganda and crowd action, and this was only the beginning of the colonists’