nd Mc Carthyism and the 2 Red Scare

nd Mc. Carthyism and the 2 Red Scare A New Hysteria 1946 -1954

Commies!

Commies: Be very, very afraid

Long history of “Red Scares” • Anti-communist sentiment goes back to the Gilded Age. Coming on the heels of the Paris Commune rebellion of 1871, the 1877 RR strike was regarded by many as the start of the “concerted assertion of Communism throughout the United States. ” • 1918 U. S. (and other Western nations) invade Russia after the Bolsheviks take over • Post WWI Red Scare-Palmer Raids • These scares were usually tinged with antiimmigrant and anti-Semitic sentiment

1940 s and 1950 s Government-sanctioned Witch Hunt – Federal Congressional Hearings • HUAC • Mc. Carthy – States often went farther that the federal gov’t, even passing laws that made communism illegal In Washington, the Canwell Committee ruined the lives of professors and journalists. Targeted University of Washington in particular – Private Organizations • The hysteria infiltrated even the most liberal organizations – ACLU » They fought against the hysteria at the same time purging their ranks of “communists” – NAACP

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) • Originally created in 1938 to root out Nazi sympathizers • After WWII and before Mc. Carthy, HUAC launches investigation s of communist activity and becomes central to the 2 nd Red Scare • Standing subcommittee of the House of Representatives from 1945 -1975 • Purpose: To root out “subversion” of the American system • The Question: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? ”

Power of Congressional Hearings Creating a Witch Hunt It is not illegal to be a communist. • Punishment was blacklisting. – Shunning from public society (Employment, Housing, etc. ) • Those questioned had three options: – Admit communist activities (blacklisted unless also accusing others) – Deny communist activities (blacklisted unless also accusing others) – Deflect by accusing others

• What is an exchange of opinions in the Soviet Union?

• It is when you walk into the KGB (Soviet Security Police) interrogation room with your opinion and you talk out with theirs.

Loyalty Oaths • Instituted many states and federal government pledging loyalty to the U. S. • Truman establishes the Federal Employee Loyalty Program in 1947 • Also called for background checks of employees suspected of ties to subversive groups. • 5 million investigations. Thousands of people lost their jobs or were forced to resign.

1947 HUAC focused on the entertainment industry and a fourth option for those questions -HUAC focused attention on liberal Hollywood -Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney appear before HUAC: condemn communism. -In 1947, the Hollywood Ten were convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify. -Their appeals were denied, all served prison terms of up to one year. -They were also blacklisted

Anti-communist Canwell Hearings 1948 at the University of Washington

What is this cartoon saying about the Cold War era in the U. S. ? June 17, 1949

Senator Joseph Mc. Carthy Demagogue Wisconsin Republican Senator turns to a platform of anti-Communism in a speech in Wheeling, WV in February 1950. Mc. Carthy first instills fear: “…this is not a period of peace. This is a time of ‘the cold war. ’ This is a time when all the world is split into two vast, increasingly hostile armed camps—a time of a great armament race…Today we can almost physically hear the mutterings and rumblings of an invigorated god of war. You can see it, feel it, and hear it all the way from the Indochina hills, from the shores of Formosa, right over into the very heart of Europe itself. ”

Fueling Mc. Carthyism Fear (often irrational &/or ignorant) ↓ Hatred (prejudice, paranoia) ↓ Action (violent, legal, political)

Fear Hatred (Paranoia) • Nuclear Age – Fueled by Soviets getting the A-bomb • Espionage – Fueled by real spy cases of Alger Hiss & The Rosenbergs – Also fueled by accusations (real or fictional) • Communism – Fueled by the “unknown” and propaganda

Table Talk • How does Mc. Carthy in his speech characterize the battle against Communism? • Why do you think he does that? To what or to whom is he appealing? • Why would it be effective? • What is the arc of his speech (how is it structured)?

Senator Joseph Mc. Carthy He then makes describes the conflict in religious terms • “The great difference between our western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, gentlemen, it is moral. ” Finally says we are losing the fight because of the enemy within • “I have here a list of 205 names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department. ”

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg sent to the electric chair • Convicted of heading a spy ring that passed atomic secrets to the Soviet Union • Executed June 1953 • “Most historians would agree that they would not face the death penalty if they were put on trial at any time other than the early 1950 s, ” noted Lori Clune, Ph. D, associate professor of history at California State University, Fresno, author of Executing the Rosenbergs: Death and Diplomacy in a Cold War World.

Media/Cultural Propaganda • The media and entertainment industries were also fueling the fear with anti-communist propaganda • The news coverage of high profile espionage cases were very anti-communist • Literature and film had a new evil empire to represent (Soviet communists replace Nazis)

Pushing Back Against the Hysteria • Ironically, while the media helped initially fuel the hysteria, they would also be the group that would first stand up against it publicly • Standing up against it personally put any journalist in the line of fire for accusations and blacklisting • Herblock (Herbert Block) an editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post was one the most avid critics of the Red Scare and Mc. Carthyism

Tipping Point Brings End to Mc. Carthyism • As with most examples of social hysteria, the anti-communist hysteria will reach a tipping point that is so extreme that it ends up extinguishing the hysteria • In 1954, this tipping point occurred, when Mc. Carthy attacked both Eisenhower and the U. S. Army of being “soft on Communism”. • Journalist Edward R Murrow openly denounced Mc. Carthy’s methods and public opinion turned against Mc. Carthy’s credibility. He was censured by the U. S. Senate. His reign of terror, ended and he died of the effects of alcoholism several years later.

Trump’s SOTU • https: //www. realclearpolitics. com/video/201 9/02/05/trump_america_will_never_be_a_so cialist_country_we_were_born_free_and_we _shall_stay_free. html

Anti-communism continues