The big “red scare” of 1919-1920 resulted in a nationwide crusade against left-wingers whose Americanism was suspect and was a godsend to conservative businesspeople, who used it to break the backs of the fledgling unions. “Red Scare” was important, because it led to violations of individual’s rights. Sacco and Vanzetti Case Nicola Sacco, a shoe-factory worker, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a fish peddler, were convicted in 1921 of the murder of a Massachusetts paymaster and his guard. The jury and judge were prejudiced in some degree against the defendants because they were Italians, atheists, and draft dodgers.…
In the late 40s and early 50s the Chinese Nationalist forces under Chaing Kai-Shek fell to the Communist forces of Mao Zedong. This created a lot of fear in the American people. They witnessed almost all of China and Korea fall into communism. This created the Red Scare in which Americans started to become scared because they didn’t want to fall into communism as well. The Red Scare in which is what led into the creation of McCarthyism.…
The cold war alliance was between the Soviet Union and the U.S. but was intensified during the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s. The communists in the U.S. eventually became known as the Red Scare. They were also to referred as “Reds.” Some federal employees were examined to determine they were loyal to the House Un-American Activities Committee. After that, the Red Scare started fading during the 1950's.…
This promoted a similar situation of the red scare that occurred in 1920’s, however, people’s reaction toward this case are more intense. Therefore, this thus shows that communist have an impact not only the policies created to retain containment or preventing the spread, but also have great impact on America’s life and attitude towards them. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union embarked on a competition to develop more powerful and destructive nuclear weapons. However, American life is also put into jeopardy.…
During the 1950’s, many innocent people in America were accused of Communist ideals. Joseph McCarthy was in charge of the bulk of the accusations by convicting members of the government, Hollywood actors, authors, and publishers. Many people lost their jobs and reputation from these events. Because of McCarthy's accusations against particular groups of people, and existing high tensions from the ongoing Cold War in America, people were arrested and blacklisted by others for communism. Joseph McCarthy made wild accusations about people in America that had a lasting impact on people’s lives and reputations.…
Fear can impact and control you making you do things that you shouldn’t be doing. What is fear? Fear can be used in many ways in movies, plays, and real life. People either fear too much or not much in today’s society. As in Good Night and Good Luck and The Crucible, fear was a factor in both Salem witch trials and the search for the communist the in 1950s, it is still a factor in today’s society.…
McCarthyism refers to making an accusation with little to no prove, in particular in accusing one to be a communist. 3. The House Un-American Activities Committee acted as an investigative group of the United States House of Representatives, led by McCarthy. 4. The House’s activities compare to the Salem witch trials because both cases made accusations against people with relatively no prove and mostly assumptions.…
McCarthyism is essentially the “use of indiscriminate, often unfounded accusations, inquisitorial…
The Second Red Scare The Second Red Scare was a time of hysteria in American history that impacted daily life in America and contributed to the tensions of the Cold War. Senator Joseph McCarthy took advantage of the fear of communism to defeat political rivals and personal enemies. Several famous actors, composers, and directors were blacklisted and their careers destroyed under suspicion of being communist. Loyalty oaths were implemented into the workplace, and people had to testify against a coworker, family member, or neighbor. Looking back on the scare can help identify its causes and prevent similar situations in the future.…
The term ‘McCarthyism’ was coined during this time because of senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy rose to prominence because he accused many of those in the government of being communist. This created a huge fear within the government and lead to a witch hunt much like the ones experienced in 1692 Salem. While McCarthy had no solid proof of communist actions he stated at a rally in West Virginia “I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy …”(McCarthy). This statement was then later repeated at a rally in Salt Lake and drew the attention of the media.…
In response to the red scare, **the federal government enacted the Espionage Act of 1917 and added amendments to it in the Sedition Act of 1918. These prohibited interference with the war effort, with that legislation ended by the end of WW1, Palmer called for every state to enact its own version of the Sedition Act. In comparison, in response to the terrorist attack of September 2011, ***the United States passed the Homeland Security act which created the Department of Homeland Security. After this, a number of acts and orders were issued, including The USA Patriot Act and the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.…
During the Cold War, war damage and poverty in Europe invited Communists influence. However, in 1947, the the U.S. created the Policy of Containment that was a way to stop Soviet expansion without having to go to war. The U.S. had began to strengthen America's ability to the communist threat. Although there were numerous causes of the Second Red Scare following World War II, including fear and the spread of communism, Joseph McCarthy used fear and accusations in order to make himself stronger. Americans at home were being influenced by the Cold War.…
A nationwide fear of communist, socialists, anarchists, and other dissidents suddenly grabbed the American psyche in 1919 following a series of anarchist bombings. The red scare left an ugly legacy, wholesale violations of constitutional rights, deportations of hundreds of innocent people, fuel for the fires of natives and intolerance. Business groups, such as the national association of manufacture, found “Red-baiting” to be an effective tool in postwar efforts to keep unions out of their factories. The first red scare occurred during the years 1917-1920 and was caused by the Russian revolution of 1917 and the impact of world war one in America. In America the ww1 propaganda techniques of the creel commission used leaflets, movies, photographs, cartoons, pamphlets and posters to paint a terrifying picture of what might happen if the allies lost the…
McCarthyism and The Crucible: How it Changed America Joseph McCarthy was the senator of Wisconsin from 1947-1957. During this time, America and the Soviet Union were involved in the Cold War. All throughout America, the Red Scare was in full swing, and the fear of communism was strong. McCarthy knew this, and used it to his advantage while re-running for his senate position. As part of his anti-communist campaign, McCarthy claimed that the Soviets had high-profile spies in the government.…
Main Idea 2: While the Russian Revolution was unfolding during the turn of the 20th century, the United States just began to rationalize the fear of Communism because of the effect it could have on their Capitalist Democracy. American civilians and their government prided themselves on their enduring and prosperous ideology of economic isolationism by protecting the country and their sound economy by distancing themselves from radical ideologies such as Communism. As history, continued the Russian Revolution was successful in their goal by taking over power from the Tzar and restoring power to the people. The overwhelming political, social and economic concern in the United States during the 1940’s and 1950’s was the fear of Communism. In the year 1950, the term “McCarthyism” was created by Herbert Block, a writer from the Washington Post, that described it as “ the practice of attempting to minimize the threat of Communism by accusing and detaining…