One such instance of the Red Scare influencing legislation was when Congress passed the Communist Control Act. According to History.com, this act was passed in response to senator Joseph McCarthy attempting to expose U.S. leaders as undercover communists. “McCarthyism” as it was called made the public paranoid and fearful of anything communist. Anti-communist beliefs further fueled the flames of the Red Scare and lead to increased levels of hysteria nationwide. The Communist Control Act states, “The Communist Party of the United States, though purportedly a political party, is in fact an instrumentality of a conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States” (History.com.) The act went on to call the American Communist Party a “continuing
