It was a scare that communism would come to the U.S. Many people were very worried and many in the government
In the 1920 The Red Scare was the fear of Communism in the United States. After employees went on strike people blamed it on communist belief. They
America in the 1950’s was a time where neighbor was told to watch neighbor in fear of a spy from Soviet Russia. After the second World War, many had believed that the atheistic communists had infiltrated the United States government on a mission to shape its policies. Politicians became disgraced after accusations of being a Communist member or sympathizer. In his “Speech Delivered in Wheeling West Virginia, February 9, 1950”, Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, exemplified McCarthyism and the Red Scare by presenting a list of more than two hundred State Department employees that had been a Communist. Going into the Cold War between the Soviet Union and The United States had been a heated time for politicians named a communist; a near equivalent to being called a witch in Salem, Virginia.
Since the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which established a Communist government in Russia, Americans viewed the Soviets as a threat to all capitalistic countries. The revolution left Americans and the government in fear of communism taking over. This view led to anti-Communist hysteria, also known as the Red Scare of 1919. Another anti-Communist movement came about in the 1940s and 50s. This Second Red Scare became known as McCarthyism due to Joseph McCarthy's actions during his campaign.
The First Red Scare, falling out in the aftermath of World War I, arose due to global upheaval and conflict. From 1917 to the summer of 1920, intense fear spread across the United States as a result of radical political ideologies such as communism and anarchism. The Russian Revolution in 1917 and the rise of the Bolsheviks fueled American societies to be fearful and suspicious. The federal government tasked Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, with leading the investigation. In response to these investigations, the Palmer raids from 1919-1920 were carried out.
First you need to know that that the United States was scared of communism at the time
US citizens faced many domestic changes during the 1940s to 1950s anti-Communist crusade, also known as the Red Scare. During this time, the Soviet Union and its Communist government began to spread. People in the US feared that communism would take over the country, and this fear led to people becoming suspicious of everyone around them. If someone said anything remotely suspicious, they could be turned in, lose their jobs, and get blacklisted, which made it almost impossible to find new work. During this time, people unofficially lost their freedom of speech and other civil liberties.
Examples of this can be seen many times throughout history, with a clear one being the trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti that occurred during the 1920s. America in the 1920s saw vast change and economic growth, yet still faced domestic turmoil. Due to the rise of communism in countries such as Russia, Bavaria and Hungary, a violent wave of anti-communist panic, known as the Red Scare, swept through the United States in the early 1920s. During the Red Scare, many Americans feared that communism would spread to this country and began to resent immigrants for their differences. The Palmer raids, which occurred in November and December of 1919, further demonstrated this fear with the arrests of over 4,000 people, many of who were citizens, because of suspicion that they were radicals.
Lastly, unlike the period of 1840s-50s in the period of 1910s-20s Americans were afraid immigrants were bringing ideas of communism into the country and threatening the safety of democracy. The red scare in 1919-20 resulted in a nationwide crusade against left-wingers whose Americanism was suspicious. Numerous states joined in the outcry against radicals. The case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, the court may have discriminated against them because they were
But prices were skyrocketing and wages were low. Strikes for higher wages were taking place in America. The “Red-scare” was the idea that immigration was bringing communists into the country. President Warren G. Harding’s campaign of “a return to normalcy” was enough to calm the american people. Harding had an isolationist policy, not wanting to deal with outside affairs.
After many countries surrounding Russia fell to communism, it frightened American citizens into a frenzy compelling them to take all measures needed to not let their country get plagued by the same disease that affected some many countries in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. Hysteria of communism plaguing the U.S. was normal after war, but during the 1950s the Red Scare hysteria maximized because of the on-going Cold War, media and accusations made by Joseph McCarthy. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong in 1949, China was one of the many countries
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)
motion, in order to send information to certain organizations beyond the executive branch of the Federal Government, as stated by Cathleen Thom and Patrick Jung (348). Hoover referred to communism as “the mad march of Red fascism,” because of American communists seeking to make a Soviet America (Weiner 24). The “zealots” of the communist party intended to overthrow the Government of the United States (26-27). Hoover had declared a war on communism, and he had multiple resources on his side. During his war on communism, Weiner explains that Hoover had thirty five undercover informants and sixty one FBI agents under his leadership.
The Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria, not legitimate threats as evident in American politics. The first example that proves the Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria not legitimate political threats is the low percent of the population that were Communists. “In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans out of a total U.S. population of 150 million were members of the Communist Party” (“Anticommunist Hysteria”). Americans feared that Communists were becoming the majority of American citizens (“Anticommunist Hysteria”). Among the American population, only 0.03% of the population actually identified as Communist.
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
