Red Scare

What is the Red Scare? Back in the United States, people were starting to fear that Communism had made it home. The U.S. discovered that the Soviets had created their own Atomic Bomb in The Red Scare was the fear and investigation of Communist in the government and in American society.

What are we going to do about it? In 1950 Congress passed the McCarran Act which required all Communist organizations to register with the government to provide list of members. Truman vetoed this, but Congress overrode his veto. In 1947 a congressional committee called HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) began investigating communist sabotage in the nation.

Who were we afraid of? If you had friends, coworkers, or family who were suspected of being Communist you were questioned. A group of Hollywood directors, writers, and actors, called the Hollywood 10, were suspected of being Communist. Many refused to testify and were arrested. As a result film industries created blacklist of individuals who’s loyalties were questionable. These people were barred from working in Hollywood’s film industry.

Accusations 1948 Whittaker Chambers, a magazine editor, testified for HUAC admitting that he had spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930’s. He also accused Alger Hiss, a former State Department official, of giving him government documents in Too much time had passed for Hiss to be prosecuted, but they found him guilty of perjury or lying and sent him to prison.

SPIES! Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the most famous spy case of the Red Scare. They were members of the Communist Party who were accused of plotting to pass secret information about the Atomic Bomb to the Soviet Union. Brought to trial in 1951, they were found guilty and sentenced to death.

Witch Hunt! Senator Joseph McCarthy dominated the hunt for Communist from 1950 to He publically attacked people who were alleged Communist. His accusations destroyed many careers of innocent Americans. He claimed to have a list of 205 State Department employees that were Communist while giving a speech in No one ever saw it. His accusations and rise to power were called McCarthyism. His downfall occurred when he accused some highly respected army officials, after that he was seen as a bully.