McCarthyism and the Second Red
Scare
American Cold War Culture and Law
Red Scare
 The fear of communist and that communist were going
to infiltrate government offices
 1949 Red Scare intensifies
 Soviets test atomic bomb
 China falls to communism
 These events made Americans believe we were losing the Cold War
House UnAmerican Activities
Committee (HUAC)
 Subcommittee of the House of Representatives
 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?”
Hollywood on Trial
 First goal of the HUAC was to focus on the film industry
 Ronald Reagan was the President of the SAG, and testified
that there were Communists in Hollywood
 10 screenwriters, the “Hollywood Ten”, used the 5th
amendment and refused to testify
 Blacklisted
Senator Joseph McCarthy
 Wisconsin Republican facing defeat in election of 1950
 Turns to a platform of anti-Communism
 Speech to a Republican women’s group in West Virginia
 News soon spreads
The List
 “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.”
 Nobody actually saw the list, but that didn’t stop McCarthy
from making acquisitions
 Helped him get elected
The McCarran Act
 Formal name: The Internal Security Act
 Truman vetoed bill, but Congress overrode his veto
 Requires communist organizations to register with the
Subversive Activities Control Board
 Authorizes the arrest of suspect persons during national
emergency
 Communists could not have passports
 Six concentration camps
built for this purpose
The Immigration and Nationality Act
 Another McCarran authored law
 Barred people who were deemed either “subversive” or
“homosexual” from becoming citizens or even visiting the
U.S.
 Power to deport immigrants who were members of the
Communist Party, even if they were citizens
 In effect until 1973
Definition of McCarthyism
 The fear, suspicion, and scapegoating that
surrounded McCarthy, his accusations and the
general curtailment of civil rights during the
Cold War era.
Examples of McCarthyism
 In NYC, citizens must take loyalty oath to receive a
fishing license
 FDR’s New Deal is re-evaluated as “a socialist
conspiracy” and “20 years of treason”
 Jonas Salk invents vaccine for Polio; a congressman
suggests that it be distributed to all school-age children
for free. Eisenhower’s Secretary of Health rejects the
idea as an attempt to “socialize medicine through the
backdoor.”
McCarthy’s Downfall
 1954 McCarthy began to look for Soviet spies in the U.S.
Army
 In the televised hearings, McCarthy often bullied officers,
harassed them about small details, and accusing them of
misconduct
 Began to lose popularity
 Senate passed a vote of Censure
 Formal disapproval
 Lost all influence in the Senate
 Died in 1957