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15.3 The Cold War & American Society. I. A New Red Scare. With the onset of the Cold War, Americans feared communist subversion – the secret weakening of a society & overthrow of its govt. In 1947, Truman established a loyalty review program to screen all federal employees.
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I. A New Red Scare • With the onset of the Cold War, Americans feared communist subversion – the secret weakening of a society & overthrow of its govt. • In 1947, Truman established a loyalty review program to screen all federal employees McGrath and Truman THE SECOND RED SCARE: 1947-1954 PRESIDENT TRUMAN'S ATTORNEY GENERAL, HOWARD MCGRATH, SET THE TONE WHEN HE ANNOUNCED: “THERE ARE TODAY MANY COMMUNISTS IN AMERICA. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE - IN FACTORIES, OFFICES, BUTCHER SHOPS, ON STREET CORNERS, IN PRIVATE BUSINESSES - AND EACH CARRIES IN HIMSELF THE GERMS OF DEATH FOR SOCIETY.”
I. A New Red Scare… C. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) held hearings looking for Communists in the Truman administration 1. One of their first hearings focused on the film industry (Hollywood Ten) The Hollywood Ten were jailed for contempt of Congress after refusing to testify as to whether or not there were communists in the film industry.
I. A New Red Scare… 2. Alger Hiss, a prominent govt. official, was accused of being a spy; he denied it & was convicted of perjury Alger Hiss, a government official, was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and was convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1949. He is pictured here testifying before the HUAC.
I. A New Red Scare… 3. Julius & Ethel Rosenberg were accused of selling atomic bomb secrets to the Soviets & were executed The caption below the picture ties the case to the anti-immigrant sentiment and red scare of the 1920s. The Rosenberg’s were American communists who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. They were executed in 1953.
II. McCarthyism • Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed he had a list of communists who worked in the govt. 1. His tactic of damaging reputations without evidence became known as McCarthyism
III. Life During the Early Cold War A. The Red Scare & spread of nuclear weapons caused great fear among Americans B. They prepared for a Soviet attack by practicing “duck-and-cover” drills and building backyard fallout shelters http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/blastmhtml
III. Life During the Early Cold War … C. Cold War themes appeared in films, plays, tv, music, & books