The making of a moral panic in 19th-century America: The Boston garroting hysteria of 1865

Much of the scholarly literature on moral panics focuses on the relationship between background pressures and interest group activities. Through an analysis of an 1865 crime wave in Boston, this essay explores the eruption of a panic in 19th-century America and identifies a third variable that contributes to the creation of moral panics. This article argues that background pressures and the efforts of claim-makers represented important preconditions, but a third component-in this instance, a string of unusual robberies-provided the crucial element that transformed a series of isolated events into a moral panic.