In Wells' article Lynch Law in America, I think we see a perfect example of rhetoric of crisis. Wells displays the contradiction illustrated by the cruel and inhumane lynching laws best when she states, "It was enough to fight the enemies from without; woe to the foe within! Far removed from and entirely without protection of the courts of civilized life, these fortune seekers made laws to meet their varying emergencies." She is acknowledging that the lynching laws were meant to send a message to targeted groups, or races, that Americans felt threatened by. This calls out to mob behavior and even condones it. I think also, it shows a crisis of time in the way lynch laws evolved as did early America.