Cold War Hysteria – At Home
Pg. 822 – 827 in book or PDF
1. What foreign affairs events freaked-out America toward worrying about Communism
and Communist influence in America?
2. Under political pressure, President Truman formed the Loyalty Review Board to
investigate the possibilities of Communist influence in the U.S. Government.
A. What happened as they investigated?
B. What seems a bit unconstitutional about their methods?
3. The HUAC investigated beyond the U.S. government.
A. What was the most famous high-profile industry the HUAC examined?
B. Who were the Hollywood Ten, and why were they in trouble?
4. Explain the term, “Blacklisting” as associated with this era.
5. A. Richard Nixon got famous for having a hand in finding which supposed spy?
B. In a sentence or two, describe the evidence against him.
C. Why would most say that the evidence is flimsy?
6. The Rosenbergs: Who are they, and what did they do?
7. With Nixon as an example, the aforementioned two cases caused politics to take off
in a strange new direction. Regardless of your political party, you could become a
popular and POWERFUL politician if you were engaged in…what type of activity?
8. Senator McCarthy took his cue from this new trend to vitalize his lame image.
Out of what the Senate allowed him to do, we get the term, “McCarthyism.”
Regardless of the book’s general dictionary-like definition of McCarthyism, create a
more poignant definition of McCarthyism that reflects the time period.
9. To gain attention and power for himself, Senator McCarthy claimed to have
lists of…what?
10. From 1950 – 1954, McCarthy was allowed to run Senate hearings, in which he could
summon anyone to question them about their possible involvement of (or influence
by) Communists. Americans from all walks of life were called before his committee,
were grilled, some were bullied into a confession of some sort, and many citizens lost
their positions in life as a result. Who did McCarthy go after that led to his downfall?
11. Hilarious but sad: What did one newspaper find out about the hysteria when it
showed people parts of the Declaration of Independence?
12. Explain the two political cartoons:
A. In the one on page 826, what is going on, or what’s the creator implying?
B. In the one on page 827, same question…
13. The book says that one of the effects of McCarthyism is that Labor Union activity
and membership declined. The book does not say why. But if you have understood
what Communism is about, and what the Soviet Union preached, you could come up
with an appropriate explanation. So…
14. Investing in stocks is a bit tricky. As discussed at the beginning of the school year
(with the idea of Joint Stock Companies), in buying stock you are giving a company
money (buying into the company) in order to help them pay for production of what
just might be a great-selling product. In return, you get a share (a percentage) of the
company’s profits. You have to look at the company’s product and believe (or
gamble) that the company is going to sell tons of the product. If the product does not
sell, then the company has financial trouble, and you can lose the money you
invested in that company.
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s there were companies developing two products
that would change our lives.
A. One of these is in the pages you are assigned for these questions, as it is
discussed how this product changed the way we view our world and our
politicians.
B. The second one is not in the book. You have to think about this.
It is a product (as substance) that you are probably touching right now.
Your desk? Your pen? Computer? Backpack? It could be a big part of these
items, and maybe 90% of the items in this room. Think of the school desks,
pens, and wall boards of you great grandfather’s day. What is different about
their composition? Thus, what is this revolutionary product that is now in almost
everything?