Internal red scare and McCarthyism

• What was the red scare?

  Where Americans were afraid of new political ideas, first red scare between 1919 to 1920 and the second from the end of the Second World War until mid-1950s
• what did the FBI do during the second red scare?


  Collected information on suspected USSR spies
• Why and now many poeple did the federal loyalty boards investigate ?


  To investigate government employees, 3 million were investigated and approximately 3000 sacked or forced to resign
• what was the role of HUAC?


  • House committee on un-American activities
  • Monitored suspected groups
  • Posted public hearings on the threat, posed by the Communist party, where affected communists were questioned and/or sent to trial
• what happened in the Hollywood 10?


  • Writers, producers and directors were questioned by HUAC
  • Refuse to answer, according to the first amendment of the US Constitution
  • Jailed, fined $1000 and blacklisted from working in Hollywood
  • took place in 1947
• what was the Alger Hiss case?

  • Ex advisor for Roosevelt
  • Accused of passing information to the Soviet union
  • Put on trial in 1949, and sentenced to 5 years in prison for life to court
  • second trial in jan 1950 where he was found guilty of perjury
  • imprisoned for 5 yrs
  • During his trial, the Soviet union tested its first atomic bomb
• what was the Rosenberg case?

  • A married couple were accused of spying for the Soviet union
  • named spies by David Greenglass, Ethels brother
  • Found guilty in March 1951 and executed in June 1953
  • Some Americans thought they were innocent, but most believed they passed information to the Soviet union about atomic bomb
• what is the McCarran act?


  • Passed in August 1950
  • Required all communist organisations to register with the government
  • Strengthened in 1952, banning communists from holding US passports
• Who was McCarthy?


  A Republican senator from Wisconsin from 1950 to 1954, he conducted a powerful campaign against communists
• what were McCarthys methods of investigation?


  • Public hearings using bullying and aggressive questioning
  • Attacking high-profile figures and accusing anybody who spoke out against him as a Communist
• what were the five key events McCarthy was involved in?


  • In February 1950, he claimed to have a list of 205 Communist Party members within the US government
  • The tidings committee investigated these claims
  • In January 1953, he was appointed chairman of the operations of the Senate government by Eisenhower
  • In 1954, his hearings criticising the American army were televised
  • In March 1954, he was criticised on the Ed Murrow show for his hearing on the American army
  • In December 1954, he was censured by the Senate for improper conduct
• what did McCarthy late to change the number of accusations to?


  57
• What did the tidings committee discover

  • The accusations were false
  • Senator tidings was accused of being Communist
  • Fake evidence was created by McCarthy to discredit him
  • Tidings was not re-elected later that year
• what are the main reasons for McCarthy downfall ?


  • Attack on the US Army
  • Nixon’s criticism
  • Ed Murrow
• what impact did McCarthyism have on American?


  • Thousands of people lost their jobs and lives were ruined
  • Thousands of people were reported of being communists
  • Mass hysteria