Red Scare Pros And Cons

In the mid 1940’s America faced a kind of fear that many viewed at the time to be easily justified. The “Red Scare” effected many people and ruined many lives during this time. During the red scare people were black listed in Hollywood and were prevented from finding work. This is because the “Red Scare” was a point in time where there was widespread fear and government paranoia by a society or state, about a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or radical leftism. The black list came around from the idea that communists were trying to use Hollywood to influence the minds of the people and turn American citizens in to spies for the Russians. This was no easy time for many Americans, people not only abused whomever they didn’t trust by creating claims that that they were communist with or without evidence. The first Hollywood blacklist was created on November 25, 1947. This was the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The writer Dolton Trumbo was one of the individuals black listed and was sent to prison. The movie incarnation of the book about events of his life some think was a well depiction of his person and life. The book however, containing more detail and seemingly brutal honest documented events differ from the movie. These differences bring into question what are motivations, the changes to the store; and for what purpose. Does the movie portrayal of Trumbo

After World War I , the american government was going thru a phase of social struggles ; prohibition laws , the suffragette movement and the chicago race riot.(chnm.gmu.edu).The war brought a wave of migration into the american land, many americans weren't happy about the situation , they believed that the immigrant people will bring with them their “foreign” ideas and ruin the american values. The americans feared the idea of communism especially after the Bolsheviks Revolution ; in 1919 The “Palmer Raids” took place under the leadership of then Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Palmer believed that communism was corrupting the american values , he even made an essay called “The case against the Reds” (reds referring to communist). “The

What is The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism? Well, The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are somewhat similar. Both happened around the same time and in the same year. The Salem Witch Trials had to do with witches. Girls committed sins by dancing in the woods and drinking blood, while guys had affairs and tried lying for the girls in the courthouse.

In the middle of the 20th Century, the threat of Soviet Union attacks left the United States in constant fear. The American people were anxious at the thought of another war, seeing as though the second world war had ended only a little over a decade earlier. The government leaders were determined to eliminate the spread of communism in the United States. By attempting to do so, the government undermined the the American people’s trust by creating unnecessary terror and mild disruption of the economy. NewsELA says, “The Red Scares were fears when government officials and other groups promoted a fear of communism in the United States, which would overthrow capitalism and democracy” (NewsELA). The Red Scares spread fear throughout the United States which led to the prosecution of prominent members of society based on unproven rumors and caused many honest politicians and members of middle-class society to lose their positions at their places of business and in their

Hundreds of years later, the United States entered the time of the “Red Scare”. In this time, Americans were still very apprehensive of Communists. On April 22, 1954, Army hearings began. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the United States Army of being too “soft” on communism. This really began in 1950, however, when McCarthy claimed that there were over 200 known communists in the Department of State (“Army-McCarthy” History.com). As Abigail did with the Witch trials, McCarthy began accusing innocents of crime to benefit his own personal agenda.

Joseph McCarthy falsely accused many people in our government of being a communist. Document one states, “I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.” This text is showing that the government was accused of having members of the communist party. With McCarthy and these accusations, people began to worry about if there were really communists in our government or if there were other communists they didn’t know about. Thus causing, The Red Scare. Document 6 is an image of people in a car and

You are undoubtedly unaware that your attempts to sound as if you know anything at all about the actual subject of this post is quite pathetic. After a half a dozen attemps you have finally spit out a quasi-coherent statement of little content.

There was a “list of questionable organizations . . . that were considered disloyal” (Reeves). One could be put on this list simply because the boss did not get along with the employee. Anyone, even the loyalist and most trustworthy people could be tried for communism, and they were, many innocent people 's lives were forever changed by the insane acts of this time.

Communism is a social, economical and political ideology that the people are to be equal which meant no social classes. It also meant that “the people would own everything, and receive the same quality and quantity of possessions” (Sentinel). Communists living in the United States were awarded the epithet “Reds” due to their association with the red Soviet flag. The color red also symbolizes bloodshed and the struggle for political change. So, applying those who were perceived as a threat with the scare that was brought upon America, developed the name, the Red Scare. Most Americans feared communism because if this system advanced through the U.S, it would be a menace to the country’s democratic values. This lead to the government, and those who called themselves “anti-communists” to besiege any communist threats that aimed to overthrow both democratic and capitalist institutions. Since the Soviet Union occupied most of Eastern and Central Europe, it was believed that the nation would continue to spread its belief in communism.

Everybody made a good attempt as they could to not appear like communists, but rather even famous people and government officials who were not communists were blamed for being Russian spies. Blacklists were created by movie executives to expose more communists due to pressure from the negative publicity aimed at their studios. This got people to lose their jobs. A few individuals who were blamed for being called a communist were fired from their occupations, captured and researched by the police, and assaulted by people. The Red Scare was a major part of the Cold War because of the vital events that occurred and heightened it. During the Cold War the Soviets and America had great tension between each other and since some Americans were terrified of the spread of communism, many other Americans, and even government officials gave the public attention to the

In 1950 the emergence of the Second Red Scare’s driving force, Senator Joseph McCarthy, appeared and gave a speech proclaiming that America will soon be lost to communism if the people do not stand up to combat it. He revealed that night a list of 205 people working for Soviet Russia in the United States’ State Department whose intentions were to mold America from the inside to become a socialist nation. (Fitzgerald, p. 14) It was thanks to this newfound hysteria that began to break out thanks to McCarthy’s claims that the HUAC and other like-minded organizations began to gain momentum during this time period.

This seemingly harmless action, and the bombings around the country in connection with the Red Scare, led to the start of blaming the American Communist Party for domestic disturbances to the status quo. The fact that Communist Party members were heads and members of labor unions, allowed Big Business owners and special interest groups to direct blame for radical actions such as work strikes or demands for wage compensation on to the Communists, allowing them to ignore, or dismiss any grievance brought against them; while at the same time tarnishing the image and reputation of the Communist Party (Schrecker, 14). In addition, the exaggeration of radicalism at the time allowed organizations like the FBI and law enforcement to expand and improve their image among the general public, which eventually led to J. Edgar Hoover being one of the figureheads of anticommunism (Schrecker, 15).

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.

In the midst of the political and economic discord, tensions were rising in America over the spread of communism at home. This sparked the creation of the House of Un-American Activities Committee, whose duty was to investigate communist influence in labor unions and New Deal organizations. During the “Great Fear,” all

This made Americans fear losing their jobs and maybe even becoming enemies of the state, even though most of them had never involved themselves with communist groups. The Cold War lead to a society where every man is against another, it divided the nation over a fight against society, and it caused a fear of a possible war.