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Red Scare In The 1950s

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In the late 1940s and during the 1950s Americans suffered from both a cultural and political hysteria that was caused by panic and anxiety about the Soviet threat. Many Americans believed that there were communists working within America to weaken the country. Thousands of Americans citizens, from teachers, actors and trade unionists to high level government officials, were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers, and were investigated and questioned in front of government committees and agencies. Their association with communism was often exaggerated and many people lost their jobs or were imprisoned based on inconclusive and at times fictitious evidence. The ‘Red Scare’ that occurred in the United States during this period in
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However, newly released archival materials such as the Venona intercepts show the extent of Communist subversion in pre- and post-war America. There were indeed hundreds of Communists working for Moscow, directly or indirectly, in the United States during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. The problem that plagued Joe McCarthy was that by the time he surfaced with his accusations in the 1950’s, the key Soviet spy networks had all been closed down. For decades, many people believed that anyone who was accused of being a spy for the Soviets in the '50s was in fact just another innocent victim of the McCarthy’s witch hunt. Although it is true that McCarthy’s witch hunt did ruin the lives of innocent people, the fact is there were witches to be hunted and there had been a threat national security presented by communist spying and subversion in the 1940’s.

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The Red Scare during the 1920’s caused many Americans to change their views on foreign policy by making them more cautious of the new settlers in the country. Because many of the views of the immigrants were much different than that of an average American they were definitely easier to accuse for crimes, and seemed to be much more suspicious now. In 1921 two Italian immigrants we e convicted for murder and executed in 1947; it was only till after they died that they were proven not guilty. “Because of the circumstances of the case and the widely held belief that the pair were innocent, the case is still cited by many as evidence of the excesses of the Red Scare and the rampant hostility and suspicion of immigrant that characterized the 1920’s”

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In a news article published during the Red Scare, the author describes the Communist red flag as symbolizing “defiance of law, order, and constitutional government. It is an insult to the stars and stripes.” It also states, “There is no room in this country for any flag but our own.” (source) The article goes on to say that the federal government must do whatever it takes to eradicate any forms of communism.

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Communism: America’s Greatest Concern “I 'm entirely hostile to the principle of Communism,” (Porter 550). Like Porter, during the Second Red Scare, countless people feared communism due to the fact that it had permeated American politics, culture, and society (Storrs). The Second Red Scare occurred from the late 1940s through the 1950s. American author Katherine Anne Porter’s To Dr. William Ross was written in 1951, during the midst of the Second Red Scare when the fear of communism was at a high (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica).

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In the 1950’s mass hysteria spread like wildfire across the country and it didn’t just affect the individuals that were accused of communism, it affected everyone. Everyone was walking on their tippy toes. Paranoid that they will reveal too much information about themselves and people would think they were communist. Even though there was an active communist party in America it was very small. Meaning that there wasn’t really a need to freak out like everyone did.

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No one can deny that the Red Scare and communism have affected America in multiple negative ways. The First Red Scare in the 1920s occurred in the USA soon after Russia's Bolshevik revolution in 1917. This revolution brought communism to peoples minds to be a very real threat. The Red Scare was social and political response. Mainly to

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People thought that because the Russian czar had been overthrown and executed by strikes that the labor unions of America were being taken over by Communist immigrants with the same goal in mind. Soon, people became obsessed with the Communistic threat coming from Russia following World War II, which led to violence and disregard of civil liberties. “The U.S. government, mainly the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) led by Democratic congressman Martin Dies, Jr., had launched an investigation designed to target suspected Communist Party members in all areas of life, including government, educational institutions, labor unions, and the entertainment industry. The repression engendered a climate of fear throughout the country, as people were afraid to speak out as the accused found their names on blacklists, which hindered their employability and ruined many lives.” (The Crucible Allegorizes the Red Scare)

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In 1924, Congress was considerate and voted to give a bonus to all the WW1 veterans. They agreed to $1.25 for each day overseas and $1.00 for each day served in the United States. The trick was that the payment would not be made until 1945. Then 1932 the nation had slipped into the Great Depression and the unemployed veterans wanted their money as soon as they could get it. When they went into the Great Depression they made a camp right across the Capital to prove a point to the Congress.

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American society was very willing to go along with the Red Hunt of the 1950’s that was led by the HUAC and Joe McCarthy. The American people knew that the main idea and goal of communism was to spread communism. Communism had already spread into North Korea after the USSR took control and the last thing American society wanted was further spreading. The House Un-American Activities Committee persecuted famous Hollywood stars for suspected communist activities. The American people looked up to these actors and actresses and the idea that their beloved Hollywood personalities could be communist opened up the idea that anyone could be a communist.

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The Red Scare started right after the civil war was over. There had been many riots to accrue during the time of the red scare. In the term the red scare had been a form of lose to many successful people. It took at huge toll on the government as they tried to stop and contain the many job losses, but as the time went by people start to riot in the streets because the of the cuts from their jobs had really affected them. People were losing their lives and the government did all they could to try and stop it.

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The intense rivalry between the two superpowers raised concerns in the United States that Communists and leftist sympathizers inside America might actively work as Soviet spies and pose a threat to U.S. security.” (History.com). The Cold War generated an anti-communist hysteria known as the Red

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During the 1950’s, when Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible”, paranoia about communists in the United States had reached its peak. In what was

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President Dwight Eisenhower gave a press conference in March 1954 talking about the hysteria that was happening and how it was affecting America. He talks about the fears that were being caused because of this hysteria, and how these fears had an impact on the human mind. People soon started accusing each other of being communist, it started to get brought up in schools around America, and because of the hysteria that was happening many people were more frightened and did everything they could to not look guilty because everyone was watching. The hysteria also led to McCarthyism spreading and people started a campaign against alleged communists. This campaign people made unfair accusations about people in America who they believed were secretly communists.

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Due to these factors, by 1950, American citizens were filled with fear of being accused of disloyalty. “One commentator described Washington, D.C., as a city rife with ‘spying, suspicion, [and] defamation by rumor’” (934). The nation became so distrustful that, in some areas, people with certain professions had to take loyalty oaths. The rights of those accused of communism were taken away; for example, they were not allowed to fish or to have a driver’s license. Due to the consequences of being accused, American citizens became extremely paranoid.

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This kind of hysteria caused the Red Scare, which was a period that Americans thought communists were working to destroy America. This mass fear of communism ruined people’s lives and made them turn against their own family and friends. Joseph McCarthy played an

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