1. Chapter 18: Cold War Conflicts Section 3: The Cold War At Home

2. California Academic Standards: 11.8.7 & 11.9.3
11.8 Students analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America.
.7 Describe the effects on society and the economy of technological developments since 1945, including the computer revolution, changes in communication, advances in medicine, and improvements in agricultural technology.
11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II.
.3 Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including the following:
The era of McCarthyism, instances of domestic Communism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and blacklisting
The Truman Doctrine
The Berlin Blockade
The Korean War
The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Atomic testing in the American West, the "mutual assured destruction" doctrine, and disarmament policies
The Vietnam War
Latin American policy

3. Objectives:
Following lecture and reading of this section, students will be able to:
Describe government efforts to investigate the loyalty of U.S. citizens.
Explain the spy cases of Alger Hiss and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
Describe the efforts of Senator Joseph McCarthy to investigate alleged Communist influence in the United States.

4. Fears of Communist Influence
Americans are worried about the U.S. security because they saw Eastern Europe and China fall to Communists and feared it could happen any where anytime.

5. Also about 100,000 Americans claimed membership in Communist parties in the U.S.
Loyalty Review Board
Truman accused of being soft on Communism.
Purpose: to investigate gov’t workers and dismiss any that were disloyal to the U.S.

9. Belonging to certain groups was cause for suspicion
3.2 million investigated; 212 dismissed as threats; 2,900 resigned to avoid or protest investigations.

10. House Un-American Activities Committee
Purpose: one of several agencies that investigated Communist influence both inside and outside the U.S. gov’t.

13. Famous for investigating movie industry in 1947 believing Communist propaganda had infiltrated Hollywood.
Many in Hollywood agreed, and supported belief in accusations

14. The Hollywood Ten refused to testify claiming the hearings and investigations were unconstitutional, and were imprisoned.
Because of investigation, a blacklist of about 500 was compiled in which names of suspected communists were placed and could no longer find work.

17. Spy Cases Stun the Nation
McCarran Act
Purpose: Make any act that would lead to the establishment of a totalitarian gov’t unlawful.
Spy Cases Stun the Nation
Alger Hiss
Convicted of perjury for lying about passing soviet gov’t documents.

18. Ethel & Julius Rosenberg
Minor activists in the American Communist Party
Found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death, for leaking information on our atomic bomb to the USSR allowing them to develop it years earlier than they would have.

21. 1st U.S. civilians executed for espionage.
McCarthy Launches His “Witch Hunt”
Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin (Republican), charged that Communists were taking over the gov’t.

23. McCarthy’s Tactics
Accused people in the gov’t of disloyalty without providing evidence.
Only made claims in the senate where he had legal immunity from slander.

24. Republicans did little to stop him, because they thought they would win 1952 presidential election if America saw them as ridding the gov’t of Communists.

25. McCarthy’s Downfall
1954, McCarthy bullied witnesses in a televised investigation and cost him public support.

26. Other Anti-Communist Measures
By 1953, 39 states passed laws making it illegal to advocate the violent overthrow of the gov’t.

27. People had to take loyalty oaths, people were afraid to sign petitions quoting the Declaration of Independence fearing they were Communist ideas.
Union leaders, librarians, reporters, and scientists were investigated.

28. The Cold War at Home
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, fear of communism leads to reckless charges against innocent citizens.
Fear of Communist Influence
American Sentiments
·Communist takeover of Eastern Europe, China fuel fear of its spread
·100,000 in U.S. Communist Party; some fear may be loyal to U.S.S.R.
Loyalty Review Board
·Truman accused of being soft on Communism
·Sets up Federal Employee Loyalty Program to investigate employees
·1947–1951 loyalty boards investigate 3.2 million, dismiss 212
The House Un-American Activities Committee
·House Un-American Activities Committee investigates Communist ties
·Investigates Communist influence in movie industry
·Hollywood Ten refuse to testify, sent to prison
·Hollywood blacklist—people with Communist ties, cannot get work
The McCarran Act
·Act—unlawful to plan action that might lead to totalitarianism
·Truman vetoes, says violates free thought; Congress overrides veto
Spy Cases Stun the Nation
Alger Hiss [Visual]
·Alger Hiss accused of spying for Soviet Union; convicted of perjury
·Congressman Richard Nixon gains fame for pursuing charges
The Rosenbergs
·1949, Soviets explode atomic bomb sooner than expected
·Physicist Klaus Fuchs admits giving information about U.S. bomb
·Ethel, Julius Rosenberg, minor Communist Party activists, implicated
·Rosenbergs sentenced to death; Supreme Court upholds conviction
McCarthy Launches His “Witch Hunt”
McCarthy’s Tactics
·Senator Joseph McCarthy a strong anti-Communist activist
·Ineffective legislator; needs issue to win reelection
·McCarthyism—attacking suspected Communists without evidence
·McCarthy claims Communists in State Department
·Few Republicans speak out; think he has winning strategy for 1952
McCarthy’s Downfall [Visual]
·1954, McCarthy accuses members of U.S. Army
·Televised hearings show him bullying witnesses
·Loses public support; Senate condemns him for improper conduct
Other Anti-Communist Measures
·States, towns forbid speech favoring violent overthrow of government
·Millions forced to take loyalty oaths, are investigated
·People become afraid to speak out on public issues