American Anticommunism and the Cold War Essay

The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War.  Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.

In the long years between 1947 and around 1957, fear of communism froze the very voices of America into unison. A supposedly enlightened country, the United States of America succumbed to the mass hysteria of the Red Scare with shockingly little resistance. Communist “Reds” and Communist sympathizing “Pinks” were seen everywhere and were often persecuted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (also known by the inaccurate acronym HUAC). Many of these individuals’ only crime was that of sensibility; they saw the truth behind the terrifying chaos. One of the best records of this dark chapter in America’s history is its literature, which expressed opinion when it could be dangerous to do so. The American public’s paranoid fear of

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

Vivian Gonzalez Mr. Martinez-Ramos A.P. United States History May 3, 2000 McCarthyism was one of the saddest events of American history. It destroyed people’s lives and shattered many families. It threw innocent people into a whirlwind of mass confusion and fictional portrayals of their lives. McCarthyism spawned for the country’s new found terror of Communism known as the red scare. McCarthyism was an extreme version of the red scare, a scare whose ends did not justify the means. The Red Scare happened twice in the history of this great country. When the communist took over Russia in 1919, the American people were unnerved. They were afraid of a communist take over in the states. When the First World War ended in 1918, there was still

“For much of the twentieth century, one of the nation’s deepest fears was that legions of Communist agents had infiltrated American society…” (Hillstrom 5). Throughout American history, it was not unusual for a minority group to be oppressed. “Native” American citizens were quick to make assumptions about “non-native” groups, viewing them as inferior or even threatening. In the years after World War I, when the first Red Scare began, the groups of concern were reformers, radicals, and Communists. This led to a series of raids, called the Palmer Raids, which targeted anyone who was suspected to have had these beliefs. The Palmer Raids of the early 1900s were an expression of America’s nativist attitudes, resulting in

During the 1950’s, Communism was a major fear that Democratic nations such as America were afraid of because of its radical ideas. The actions taken due to the Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism were necessary and completely justified to protect America’s freedom and government from Communist power. With an increase of Communistic nations invading other countries and forcing their ideas upon them there was an uproar of fear in the United States. The Domino Theory was a legitimate fear of if one nation falling to communism, every nation around it would fall as well. Focusing their attention to VIetnam especially, America increased military control in these regions. Multiple Legislative actions taken by the United States such as the creation of the HAUC and the Espionage and Sedition acts were necessary to stop threats to America’s freedom. The heated tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War contributed to the fear of an attack from the East. Senator McCarthy’s convincing accusations lead to many accurate accusations as well as the rise of McCarthyism. Valid points were brought up about president Roosevelt’s New Deal policies of having capitalistic characteristics. While some actions did take away the civil liberties of some Americans, and were not always accurate, they were necessary to protect American Democracy, as well as the safety of the citizens.

In the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned Americans against each other by installing fear in the people regarding toward Communism. During this time, in fact, people were getting blacklisted even if they weren't communist. In an incident at the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, McCarthy delivered a speech. The situation involving the Senator escalated when he stated that the State Department is infested with Communist. In this point in time, due to the false allegations, people went on a decade long period of witch hunts. Sam Roberts, the author of “A Decade of Fear” stated that in fact, “...thousands of alleged Communists in the U.S. were arrested and deported during what became known as the Red Scare.”

At the beginning of 1920, America had just witnessed the rise of communism as a result of the first world war. Many affected nations were in shambles and their citizens looked for refuge within the United States. This tide of immigration carried with it citizens from around the globe who brought with them their families, their culture, and their approach to foreign policy. America recognized this immigration as a threat and labeled many immigrants “communists”. This event was called the “Red Scare” and much controversy arose as a result. One of the most well-known controversies of this time was the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti. Sacco and Vanzetti created a split within the nation of minorities and immigrants versus the frightened and prejudiced homegrown Americans (“Sacco and Vanzetti: Were Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti Treated Fairly by the American Justice System?”). As a result, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti fell victim to an unfair trial based upon the stigma associated with immigrants at that time, their unpopular political views, and a biased judge.

The communist paranoia that occurred in America during the period of 1947-1957 has come to be known as the ‘Second Red Scare’. This was a political and social movement of fear which led to communist witch hunts known as the ‘Red Hunts’, that categorise the period. The

The Cold War was a time of strife between the United States of America and the Soviet Union after World War II. During the war, the two countries were allied against Nazi Germany, however, after the war ended it left the two superpowers at odds on many political and economic issues. During the 1950’s the anticommunist crusade, in my opinion, was a direct threat to the freedom President Truman, in particular, spoke about. President Truman vetoed and disagreed with many laws and practices that went on during the time, such as McCarren Internal Security Act. I consider it to be a time after the war when the government pushed patriotic propaganda while using that as the launching pad to continue segregation, racism and pushing their own political

“When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be because of enemies from without but rather because of enemies from within” said Joseph McCarthy, on February 9, 1950 (Enemies from Within). McCarthy may have missed the mark in claiming that communist infiltration was the enemy from within, but his statement was accurate: the rise of demagogues can erode the rights and freedoms upon which democracy is built and without which they could not gain power. From the 1920’s on, ‘red baiting’ had produced anti-communist sentiments in the American populace that had largely eradicated most communist organizations in the United States (Hillstrom 17). The culmination of over thirty years of hysteria over communist infiltration bred an atmosphere of suspicion and agitation. Combined with the Alger Hiss conviction and the Hollywood blacklisting period under the House Un-American Affairs Committee, the 1940’s and early 50s represent a climax of the Red Scare (Hillstrom 36). The Truman administration’s “Loyalty Order” requiring the FBI to investigate government employees suspected of disloyalty, and actions like it created fear of being labeled as disloyal and bred a populace that was inclined to accept the word of authority. The emergence of McCarthyism was the failing of society’s core institutions: the entertainment industry (satisfying the people), the government (serving the people), and the media (informing the people). It is easy to stand up for the cause of justice when the

Communism played a major role shaping the 20th century, both for the East and the United States. Its impact can be seen in the US from 1919 to the 1990s and even today. The spread of Communist ideals in the East meant the beginning of the socialist state and mass industrialization. Its effect on the US was much different. The United States people, heavily diversified of all races, religions, and financial statuses, became extremely jingoistic as a result of competition with the USSR. This nationalism became unhealthy as citizens began determining what was “un-American.” The Communist Party USA was not successful in their primary objective of spreading communism to the US. What they did achieve however was hugely important. They showed that citizens of the United States could be scared out of their own freedom. That fear would lead them to give up “liberty and justice for all”. Still a highly misunderstood idea, it is important for citizens of the United States to understand what communism is and what impact the CPUSA and other communist organizations had on the country.

The challenge to a variety of political and social issues distinctly characterizes the post World War II (WWII) era, from the mid 1940’s through the 1970’s, in the United States. These issues included African-American civil rights, women’s rights, the threat of Communism, and America’s continuous war effort by entering the Cold War immediately after the end to WWII. These debated issues led to the birth of multiple social movements, collectively referred to as the New Left, rooted in liberalism. In response to the New Left, a strong brand of conservatism, collectively referred to as the Right, arose to counteract these movements. Despite opposing ideology and convictions,

In the early 1920s’ America, threats of communism were everywhere. With the recent overthrow of the Russian ruler, panic started to set in. Americans were scared of this because the Communists showed how powerful they really were. Even though World War I in Germany ended, a new war started, turning in a new direction. It became a war against “... anything un-American - which in 1919 meant radical or red” (Palmer Raids). A communist party formed in the United States, reaching a peak of seventy thousand members. Almost immediately after the government found out about this, the Committee of Public Information started pouring out propaganda promoting the American way of democracy. This sparked the beginning of the Red Scare. Being a scary moment in American history, Alexander Mitchell Palmer tried to take matters into his own hands by killing and deporting thousands of Americans.

Nazism sympathy never quite spread over here like Stalinism did. In its pure form it stressed the brotherhood of the common people that made up the land. These thoughts were easily appealing to many people. Before the war communist and socialist ideas were quite on the rise here because the depression emphasized capitalism’s push towards the lonely individual and how free enterprise basically failed. Whitfeild refers to these communists who feel that they are progressives as Stalinists because they stand for ending American civil liberties that they saw as only for the upper class. So Whitfield argues that it is wrong to extend much sympathy to these American communists as their rights were wrongfully stripped away because this stripping of rights is what they aspired for everyone in the end. This new