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The Red Scare

The Red Scare. The Second Red Scare. Concern over communism in America rises like a tsunami At first, people are concerned during WWII about U.S.S.R.’s intentions about postwar goals

dennis-mejia
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The Red Scare

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  1. The Red Scare

  2. The Second Red Scare • Concern over communism in America rises like a tsunami • At first, people are concerned during WWII about U.S.S.R.’s intentions about postwar goals • After the war, with politicians on both sides of the aisle mud slinging and calling each other communists or preferred by the Nazis, the public begins to swell with anti-communist feelings (Why might this be the case?)

  3. The Second Red Scare • In response to heavy Democratic losses in the 1946 elections, Truman institutes a loyalty program through Executive Order 9835 (5 extra credit points to the first two people to name two previous Executive Orders and what they did) • Public employees of Federal and Stategovernments must admit ANY association with “totalitarian, Fascist, Communist or subversive” groups and they would be grounds for dismissal • 1,210 firings and 6,000 resignations result from the loyalty program under Truman with comparable numbers under Eisenhower

  4. House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) • A House of Reps permanent committee whose purpose is to investigate ANYTHING theyFEELcould be “un-American propaganda” • Hollywood was the best target (Why? How is pop culture still the same now as it was then?) • Foreign directors, left-leaning writers, Jewish producers, and a general liberal lifestyle provided ample hunting grounds for HUAC members

  5. The Hollywood Ten • 8 screenwriters and 2 directors invoke their rights under the 1st amendment refuse to testify before the committee • HUAC cites them forcontempt • The Hollywood Ten appeal to the Supreme Court and lose • They go to jail for contempt • Why did they cite the 1st amendment and not the 5th? • Could this have led to a different outcome?

  6. The McCarran Committee • The McCarran Committee worked with HUAC to identify “subversives” in labor unions, diplomatic corps, professors and teachers • The goal was not to elicit confessions, rather it was to get them to “name names” of friends or associates who MIGHThaveCommunist connections (This is what you might call trolling for data. Any examples of this in current times?) • Many people asserted their rights against self-incrimination granted under the 5th amendment

  7. The McCarran Committee • Unfortunately, the publicassumedpleadingthe 5th meant that the people were guilty of being communists • Once your name is mentioned in this context, you will find it difficult to hold even the most basic job • Even if you had no connection to communism, your name was forever tarnished • People who invoked their rights were labeled “Fifth Amendment Communists”

  8. Subversion Trials • 11 leaders of the American Communist Party are convicted for advocating to violently overthrow the government • Alger Hiss, who had held important posts in the State Department, is convicted for lying about copying low level secret files • Klaus Fuchs, a Britishnuclearphysicist confessed to passing atomic secrets to the Soviets while working at Los Alamos in 1944 and 1945

  9. Subversion Trials • Fuchs implicate Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, New York radicals who didn’t have much ability to act on their beliefs • The Rosenbergs are convicted and executed in the electric chair • Questions remain about their guilt, specifically Ethel as she was probably charged to pressure her husband • Instead of naming names in for a reprieve, they choose to go to the electric chair

  10. Homework (Don’t worry, I hate to grade it) • Begin researching McCarthyism and HUAC. • Start with your textbook. • Then pick up an old Encyclopedia (those are what people used to use to broaden their knowledge of a subject before the internet) and look up McCarthyism, Joseph McCarthy, Edward R. Murrow, the Hollywood Ten, etc… • Start writing down some key points about the big picture behind the Red Scare and American response to it. • You are (soon) going to be assigned a prominent person involved in this time period. • You will write an essay (3-4 pages, double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font) on this person. Their background prior to the hearings, what happened to them during, and the resulting fallout and how it impacted their life.

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