COLD WAR AT HOME The Red Scare

Fear of Communist Expansion After WWII there was a widespread fear of Soviet and Communist influence Known as the Red Scare Anti-Communism hysteria that spread across the United States as a result of the beginning of the Cold War Nuclear Arms race was the main source of fear toward the Soviet Union Led to programs and committees to try and expose Communist threats

Where is the main focus of the fear of Communist influence? Write your answer in your notebooks.  “Whereas it is of vital importance that persons employed in the Federal service be of complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States; and…  1. There shall be a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government.”

The Hunt for Subversives Initial investigations were conducted by the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) The Hollywood film industry was a huge target and many executives created blacklists that barred movie stars  Hollywood Ten HUAC uncovered many Communists spies, namely Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss Ties within the Supreme Court and State Department  Development of the FBI Julius and Ethel Rosenberg  Given the death penalty for selling secrets

“I consider your crime worse than murder. Plain deliberate contemplated murder is dwarfed in magnitude by comparison with the crime you have committed. In committing the act of murder, the criminal kills only his victim…But in your case, I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country.” Judge Irving Kaufman The Rosenberg’s were executed in 1953 and became the only people in American history to be executed for espionage during peacetime.

In your notebooks answer the following questions: Do you agree with the sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? Was Judge Kaufman justified in his decision of sentencing the Rosenberg’s to death?

McCarthyism Joseph R. McCarthy-Senator from Wisconsin Accused any and all political, celebrity, and intellectual figures who he deemed a threat Invoked fear in many Americans by displaying that all who were not supportive of his claims were classified as Communist Because of McCarthyism and the Red Scare many political debates and policies have reverted back to this to avoid profiling (Sometimes doesn’t work)

President Truman to Senator McCarthy “I read your telegram…with a great deal of interest and this is the first time in my experience, and I was ten years in the Senate, that I ever heard of a Senator trying to discredit his own Government before the world. You know that isn’t done by honest public officials. Your telegram is not only not true and an insolent approach to a situation that should have been worked out between man and man but it shows…you are not even fit to have a hand in the operation of the Government of the United States. I am very sure that the people of Wisconsin are extremely sorry that they are represented by a person who has as little sense of responsibility as you have.”

What was the government’s view of Senator Joseph McCarthy? Provide evidence Who would you side with: McCarthy? Truman and government? Why?