Lesson 3 – The Cold War at Home Module 12 – The cold war Lesson 3 – The Cold War at Home

Check out this video on the ‘Fear of Communism at Home’ c. Key terms & people Check out this video on the ‘Fear of Communism at Home’

A. House un-american activities committee The most famous agency to investigate possible Communist influence in the U.S. HUAC first made headlines in 1947 when it investigated Communist influence in the movie industry fearing that Communists were sneaking propaganda into films to encourage Americans to hate our gov’t. & eventually overthrow it HUAC interviewed 43 witnesses from the Hollywood film industry in Sept. of 1947 (Many were ‘friendly’ & supported the accusations of Communist influence; some were ‘unfriendly’)

B. Hollywood ten These 10 ‘unfriendly’ witnesses were called to testify but refused & decided not to cooperate w/HUAC because they felt these hearings were unconstitutional (1st & 4th Amendments) These 10 writers, directors, & producers were sent to prison for refusing to testify before HUAC

C. blacklist In response to these HUAC hearings, Hollywood executives instituted a ‘blacklist’ of people whom they condemned for having a Communist background This list included 500 actors, writers, producers, & directors Their careers were ruined as no film company in Hollywood would hire them in fear of being labeled as a ‘Communist Sympathizer’. In 1950, actor/singer Paul Robeson refused to sign an affidavit indicating whether he had ever been a member of the Communist Party & was subsequently blacklisted where his passport was revoked for 8 years & his income fell from $150,000/year to $3,000/year

D. Alger hiss In 1948, a former Communist spy named Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of spying for the USSR & handed over microfilm of gov’t. documents allegedly typed on Hiss’s typewriter back in the 1930s Too many years had passed for gov’t. prosecutors to charge him with espionage but he was convicted & sent to prison for perjury under oath in 1950.

E. The rosenbergs Ethel & Julius Rosenberg were minor activists in the American Communist Party & were implicated in a huge national case involving a German-born physicist Klaus Fuchs admitting to giving the USSR information about our atomic bomb program. The Soviets had built their atomic bomb 3-5 years earlier than expected & it was assumed that they stole our atomic bomb secrets It was alleged that the Rosenbergs were the ones who received this information from Fuchs & when called to testify, they pleaded the 5th & as such were sentenced to death They were the 1st U.S. civilians executed for espionage as they died in the electric chair in June of 1953, leaving behind 2 sons

f. Senator joseph mccarthy The most famous anti-Communist activist was Senator Joe McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin He spear-headed the charge that Communists were taking over our gov’t. to get reelected in 1952 after a mostly ineffective term in the U.S. Senate He took advantage of our fears towards communism by making several unsupported accusations regarding communist sympathizers or activists in our country At different times, he claimed to have the names of 57, then 81, then eventually 205 Communists working in our State Department (never actually producing a single name)

g. mccarthyism McCarthy’s style of attacking suspected Communists Eventually referred to any unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without providing any evidence When challenged, McCarthy simply launched more accusations & only did his name calling in the Senate where he had legal immunity protecting him from being sued for slander

d. Study questions This section is really just an overall review of the ‘Key Terms & People’ Section

A. WHAT actions of joseph mccarth worsened the national hysteria about communism? He made countless accusations against 100s of Americans for being Communist sympathizers or activists feeding the national hysteria around the spread of Communism in America

B. How did the rosenberg case fuel anti-communist feelings? We were shocked when the Soviets developed the atomic bomb 5 years ahead of schedule & when the public found out that a German physicist may have sold information about how to develop the bomb to Communist spies (the Rosenbergs), it solidified hatred/distrust for the American Communist Party

C. How did mccarthyism affect public views of the government? He claimed that 100s of Communists worked within our State Department. That essentially means that Communists had infiltrated our highest levels of gov’t. & we now started to distrust even those in top gov’t. positions