1. Second Red Scare
25.3 Notes

3. Growing Fear The years after WWII were already tense
Americans were scared about the spread of communism
The crisis in Berlin drove tensions even higher
The U.S. finds out that the Soviets have a bomb
Then news came that China had been taken over by communism

4. The Threat of Communism in China
Communist takeover in China was many years in the making
Japan withdrew from China at the end of WWII
The current leader of China, Chiang Kai-shek left and went to Taiwan with the Nationalist Party
Mao Zedong and the communists took the opportunity to gain control

5. Communists win The Civil War inside China is won by the communists
U.S. is fearful that communism in China might be like communism in the Soviet Union
Video clip on communist takeover (3 min)

6. Fighting Communism at home
HUAC has been in place since 1930’s
This group investigates the range of radical groups in the U.S.
The most famous HUAC investigation began in 1947 over the Hollywood Ten
(3 minute video on Hollywood Ten)

8. Hollywood Ten
They were called before the HUAC committee and refused to answer questions
They were found guilty of contempt and sentenced to a year in jail

9. Robert Oppenheimer The scientist that created the atomic bomb
He was accused of communist sympathies
The commission stripped him of his top secret security clearance

10. Truman and loyalty
Public fear of communism put pressure on American leaders
Truman started by investigating all U.S. federal employees
Out of 3 million people, 3,000 resigned, and 200 were judged disloyal

11. Smith Act
1940 law that made it a crime to call for the overthrow of the U.S. government or belong to an organization that did
The Smith Act was used in many supreme court cases
Dennis vs. United States
Yates vs. United States
You are going to read about these two court cases and explain each one

12. McCarran Act
Required Communist organizations to register with the government
It made it illegal to plan for a dictatorship and prevented communists from entering the U.S.
Truman tried to veto the bill but Congress overthrew his decision, why?

13. Spy Cases Alger Hiss- accused of being a spy for the Soviets
He lied under oath- what is that called?
Klaus Fuchs- plans for the atomic bomb were given to Soviet Union
Rosenbergs- you are going to do a webquest on the Rosenbergs today in the computer lab during the second half of class

14. Joseph McCarthy U.S. Senator
McCarthy made a very famous speech in West Virginia about the threat of communism
***read speech of McCarthy

15. Speech
In his speech he claimed that there were 205 Communists working for the U.S. department of state
In later speeches he claimed to know the names of 57 of them

16. Rise of McCarthy He never produced the list of names
It made people feel better like there was an explanation for certain events
He earned a reputation for fighting communism
He started making attacks with no evidence to support it
Truman called him a ballyhoo artist
His tactic of spreading fear is known as McCarthyism

18. McCarthyism
Senator Millard Tydings lost election because of threats made by McCarthy that were untrue
Thousands of people would be fired across the nation for being, “soft on communism”
He even accused the U.S. military of being involved in communism
He won re-election in 1952