The Influence Of The Cold War On Civil Liberties

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.

During the Cold War, the United States was deeply enthralled in fears of a Communist takeover. The Cold War, a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, lasted from 1945 to 1990. As the Cold War progressed spies and individuals of the communist party were uncovered and put on trial. Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin senator, took advantage of the United States fear of communists by making up false evidence and accusations against innocent people. Americans feared that there were roots of Communism throughout communities in the United States, and more specifically, in the government. In February of 1950, McCarthy made a radical statement announcing he possessed a list of 205 government officials that were involved in the communist party. This sparked the beginning of the McCarthy era. Because this list was made up, McCarthy had to keep his lie going to maintain spotlight attention from the media and its millions of viewers. His false accusations led to tension and outbreak among numerous communities in the United States. McCarthy generated the Red Scare and the Hollywood Blacklist, these two events ruined thousands of innocent peoples lives. Joseph McCarthy was driven by the need for power and, briefly, accomplished his goal through the use of fear and accusatory tactics.

Civil Liberties are individual rights protected by law from unjust Government and other interference. Some people began thinking that communists were in the US undercover. Loyalty oaths were started for employees. There were Spy Trials. McCarthy thought there were a bunch of communists in the US and even though he was wrong and lied, there was still the belief that communists were out there. People went to jail for refusing to talk about their political beliefs. Yes, civil

During the Cold War, America as a whole was terrified of the idea of communists. Everybody had a perception of a communist, and knew that they did not like them. The American Government took many measures to protect the United States from Communism. In 1947, President Harry Truman made an Executive Order 9835 with the purpose of making the United States Government more secure. To summarize the order, it was to have all people holding or applying for Government positions to be checked or inspected a great deal for being or

Europe after the capitulation of Nazi Germany and the subsequent Allied victory in World War II was in ruins from years of fighting and bombing. Cities and infrastructure lay flattened and shortages of vital consumer products of food and fuel persisted across Europe. The economic situation of Europe was also in tatters; many countries suffered from severe inflation, debt, trade deficits, and depleted gold supplies. The United States having remained virtually untouched by the destruction had emerged from World War II stronger than ever before both an industrial economic, and military powerhouse. The Soviet Union though also suffering from the wounds of the war began to establish pro-Soviet communist governments in the Eastern European countries

Fear was a large part of this as a fear of world domination by communists or nuclear holocaust, especially because the Soviet Union exploded its first A-Bomb in 1949 and China became communist.

The Cold War was a significant time for the United States and the Soviet Union, while the rest of the world watched intently. Although no actual war took place, both of these powerful countries did their best to promote their political and ideological ideas while trying to gain some ground in the seemingly never ending arms race. This war was driven by both fear and the strive to become the strongest and most powerful country. During the time of the Cold War, the United States proved to be a strong influence over Canada. Given its location, it was obvious as to which side Canada was on. While Canada believed in the same ideologies as the US, this nation was still reluctant to fully emerge themselves into the hysteria that had been emerging in the US. However, even though Canada had just received world recognition for its contribution during the Second World War, this large yet acutely populated country had much still to prove. During this time, Canada just recently became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). But while Canada was making huge steps in their peacekeeping and military growth, there were still rumours of espionage circling the country.

After World War I, communism was on the rise around the globe. It became a common fear, both by citizens and the Government, that the communist party would begin to rise within the U.S. After the Cold War started in 1947, it became harder and harder for social justice groups to want the equal rights for all people because of the fear that this ideal would merge with the ideals of communism. The United States found themselves in a tough spot, desiring a civil rights reform

Section A: Wendy Wall, author of Anti-Communism in the 1950’s, goes into a detailed description of the effects of the “red scare” in society in the 1950’s. Two of the things constantly mentioned are the Federal Loyalty-Security Program and the House Un-American Activities Committees. Alexander Stafford, author of the article The Role of the Media During the Cold War, describes the effects of McCarthyism. Stafford explains how McCarthyism originated and how its negative connotation is the perfect example of corrupted power. This article fails to point out how exactly McCarthy abused his power over the people however.

Civil Liberties Today, is an article from The New York Times and is dedicated to displaying the numerous security measures that were implemented after the attacks on September 11, 2001. The article brings up the alarm many Americans today have regarding their own personal privacy. It also references the numerous threats the new laws have put on the basic civil liberties of all people. The text goes in depth on these laws and reminds us that they were implemented for one purpose only: to lower the risk of terrorism in the United States.

Civil Liberties is defined as “the freedom of a citizen to exercise customary rights, as of speech or assembly, without unwarranted or arbitrary interference by the government” (Merriam-Webster) but as time went by, people began to question whether or not civilians civil liberties have been compromised by the government. From Martin Luther King to Children in Long Island being taken, America’s civil liberties . The times may have changed but the people’s civil rights have to but not all have been resolved from Black Lives Matter, Women’s Rights, and the Crisis of Wars and these are the problems we must come to face.

During World War II, there was tolerance for communism in the United States, but after the war ended and the Cold War began, that tolerance was gone. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was being developed even before the fighting stopped. Multiple crises that follow each other one after the other over the years such as the Greek Civil War and the Korean war made the United States come to regard the Soviet Union as a hostile power committed to expanding communism worldwide. The fear that the American public felt from their domestic Communists came from their government’s attempt for gathering support for the Cold War. The effects of people such as J. Edgar Hoover and Truman dehumanized the American Communists to the

The fear of communism first emerged after the First Red Scare in the 1920s. The fear of extreme ideologies that emerged in European countries during the Great Depression was starting to spread to the United States and President Franklin D. Roosevelt answered it with the Second New Deal. This deal was established to guarantee a modest level of economic safety and security to avoid communist and fascist government reform, which used fear to gain popularity. The New Deal programs to conservative lawmakers were seen as “un-American” and began putting pressure on liberals for being weak on communism. Out of fear of big government taking over, the liberal’s establishment of the House Committee on “Un-American” Activities and the ratification of the Smith Act of 1940 undermined the conservative argument. After World War II conservatives again accused the liberal democrats for being too weak on communism. But

Well freedom during the cold war was many things. Growing up in the 1970 and 80’s at the end of the cold was it was still all about stopping communism and holding on to the vison of Leave it to Beaver way of life. People though we had to stop communism at all cost, because that was the cancer that will bring down the United States of America. America during World War 2 had lock up its own people and took away their freedoms because of the way they looked. Japanese American were thrown into camps and anyone that would say anything against the war or the government was arrested. Freedom during the cold war was based on fear. Fear that Russia was going to take over the world and the American way of life. After World War 2 the world

Ever since the Napoleonic Wars, war was a concept that was considered to be under the purview of the State, however this belief is inherently wrong. In all of history, warfare has been engaged by private actors as opposed to the State. In fact, the State as the dominant actor in warfare should be understood as the exception, rather than the norm. Even though the State has not been the dominant actor in warfare, there were certainly multiple attempts by the State to control, or have governance over warfare as a whole. For the purposes of understanding governance over privatized warfare, there are three major time periods that should be reviewed: The Middle Ages, the Rise of the State, and Post-Cold-War society. In an