The Red Scare: A Case Of Mass Hysteria In The United States

The Red scare was a series of witch hunts for suspected communist sympathetic members of congress and public office holding Citizens who were supposedly “Red” this lasted from (1919-1920) started by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. During the first war the Red Scared was represented the widespread concern that Americans had developed over the fear of communist subversion within society. The American people went into a mass hysteric frenzy over the news and many

When the Cold War occurred between the Soviet Union and the United States it was intensifying. There was fear that there would be a communist influence toward the United States.This is later to be known as the second Red Scare which occurred in the late 1940s to the mid 1950s. The first Red Scare occurred in the early 20th century, when there was a period of suspicion that the revolution in Russia would overthrow the United States government. Leading to the fear of communist revolution in the United States. During the second Red Scare in the late 1940s, Joseph McCarthy was a senator of Wisconsin ,during that time. In half of his time in office ,he tried to 1 expose communists and other people who were risks to the United States, this

The Red Scare occurred in the 1950’s when several government officials were accused of involvement with communism based solely on rumors. Civilians were scared and thought they had no reason to trust the federal government. This caused chaos between the United States civilians and the federal governments and authorities. NewsELA said, “On February 20, 1950, McCarthy addressed the Senate and made a list of questionable claims. His proof was flimsy and he proved nothing, but the Senate called for a full investigation of these “communists.” Federal officials had to complete a full investigation of the people accused but in the end, nobody was found guilty of any sort of communism.

In times of fear, people look to leaders, find people to blame, and resort to panic. The Second Red Scare is a prime example of this. During the Second Red Scare many people were falsely and absurdly accused of communism. Take, for example, Annie Lee Moss. A trial was held against her to see if she was a communist, even though she worked in communication at the Pentagon. Being accused of communism had the power to ruin one’s life–no one would want to associate with him, have a relationship with him, or even work with him. Many people caused the Second Red Scare, one of the most prominent figures being Joseph McCarthy, former US senator. He had lists upon lists of alleged communists. An underlying cause of the Second Red Scare would be the

The Red Scare of 1920 was that a lot of people thought that communism was going to spread to other countries. The Red Scare of 1920 was caused by many different things, but some of the major things that caused it were the assassination of the US president McKinley in 1901, many bombings such as the Wall Street bombing, and the communists overthrew the Russian Royal Family when the Russian revolution occurred which made everyone think that it was going to spread. Almost everyone in the US thought that the communists were going to take over since there were about 150,000 anarchists in the US alone.

During the time of the Red Scare lives were destroyed from all of accusations made. The people that were wrongfully accused had families and then got destroyed reputations. From the Cold War Museum it stated that “the nation grew to realize that McCarthy was evil and unmatched in malice.” once they found that McCarthy was not to be trusted, everyone knew that the people McCarthy told were communist were not

The first and second red scared really instilled the fear of communism. And Joseph McCarthy has something to do with it. Joseph McCarthy is infamously known for making unsupported accusations against people as far as saying they’re communists; his false accusations started what soon became one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria.

The Red Scare in the 1950’s was actually America’s second red scare. The 1920’s red scare was what helped start suspicion over Communists, but was put off during World War 2. It was no coincidence that what many people called the second red scare ignited after World War 2, during the Cold War, in the 1950’s. The 1920’s red scare started because Americans were paranoid over the fact that Russia may seek revenge after they had overthrown a royal Russian family in 1917. What started Communist ideas in the U.S at the time was the fact that since the war was over many of people were out of jobs which

Early in the 1990 Russia and Red China were on a mission to build up their armies to be the best in the world. Both counties wear communist counties this made the United States fearful that they were trying to spread. Communism throughout the world the United States government and other official became very fearful and resentful toward anyone from Russia or China. Many Chinese and Russian professors working at major universities lost their jobs, they could not gather together without interference and they were spied upon. There Russian and Chinese citizen now had their civil rights violated. This jean became known as the Red Scare. The government influenced public opinions that made the United States citizens see Russia and China as our enemies.

The Red Scare represented the widespread concern that Americans had developed over the fear of communist subversion within society. Americans believed, especially during the Cold War, which was a period of tension between the United States and Soviet Union, that communism was attempting to infiltrate every aspect of their lives. While this is not necessarily the best analogy, you can relate the widespread fear of communism during the Cold War as being similar to the heightened alert Americans had toward terrorism and suspected terrorists during the beginning of the modern century.

The Red Scare was a social and political shock to the common people of the United States of America. There were the first Red Scare and the second Red Scare and both of the Red Scares were based on communism, socialism and leftists. The first Scare was from 1917 through 1920 and what started it was the fear of the Bolshevism, and what caused this was the Russian revolution. The second Red Scare started because of the fear of communism as socialism. It's time period was from the 1940s to the 1950’s.

Also during this time from the late 1940s to the late 1950s began McCarthyism and the scare of Communism being the United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would be pushed into the public spotlight by the issue of anti-Communism. It was discovered later that the FBI had helped give McCarthy the information to help him start his campaign against Communism. For several years, McCarthy operated to seek out and destroy the lives of people whom he or others had declared as being a Communist. Lytle mentions that McCarthy charged that Communists had penetrated the United States by becoming involved in churches, the army, the CIA, and the hydrogen bomb program. Even after McCarthy’s eventual political death, McCarthyism still went on and took longer to fade away. McCarthyism was the lasting legacy of McCarthy that put the nation in a frenzy. It was characterized by false accusations of neighbors, family members, and friends and being part of the Communist party. These accusations meant that these peoples’ lives were over. They had no more authority, respect, or even career opportunities after being accused, albeit falsely.

Mass hysteria has been part of history since the beginning of time. It happened in the United States the years 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. In Salem, two young girls were responsible for starting mass hysteria by showing erratic behavior and accusing other people of witchcraft. This resulted in the death of over 20 people. Salem citizens were very confused and scared because they were never sure of how secure they actually were. Another reason Salem citizens were nervous was because, if their fate was put to the test, it would be in the hands of an unreliable court. Another event that involves mass hysteria was the one known as “The Red Scare”. The Red Scare was a variety of actions that led to an enduring episode of fear and hostility through the years 1940s and 1950s. The Red Scare was caused by a series of threats towards America. The Red Scare had many figures but two that were exemplary to others were Hoover and McCarthy. These men stirred up the environment with more problems than it had before. Citizens of America were surrounded by many threats especially their homes being corrupted by the pressure they were surrounded by. Politics played a very keystone part in The Red Scare because it was the fuel to the fire. Families and friends were being separated since

Mass hysteria can strike anywhere, anytime. Mass hysteria is an illusion or condition that affects a group of people, and is caused by anxiety, fear or stress. It can sometimes put people at risk because in most cases, it makes people sick. Mass hysteria has a negative impact on people like it did on the people of Salem who were killed and locked away. The Crucible was one of many examples of how fear can cause mass hysteria and unfortunately there are many more. Fear causes mass hysteria and has many cases that can prove that this is true.

Mass Hysteria Society has reacted negatively to fear throughout the ages. There are many examples of people filled with fear gathering together to conquer a seen or unseen enemy. Mass hysteria is the common term used to describe a situation in which various people suffer simultaneously from similar hysterical symptoms. The small samplings of examples below demonstrate the power fear can have in our society. Mass hysteria begins with troubled times in the culture.