McCarthyism:
Reds in
America
Loyalty Review Board
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Truman’s response to Republican claims he
was soft on communists
Board was to determine if any government
employee was disloyal to the government
91 “subversive” groups listed – membership
drew suspicion
3.2 million investigated – 212 dismissed – 2900
resigned
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Felt civil rights violated
Never allowed to see the evidence about them
HUAC
House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) – A congressional committee that
investigated charges of communism
inside and outside U.S. government
agencies
 Went
after movie industry – claimed that
they used propaganda (looked at films
made during WW2 that were pro-Soviet)
Hollywood
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Hollywood Ten – ten witnesses that refused to
cooperate on grounds that the hearings were
unconstitutional – they were sent to prison
Hollywood executives responded with a
blacklist of those individuals that they
deemed were communists
McCarran Internal Security Act – unlawful to
plan any action that might lead to the
establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship
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Truman vetoes act that it is unconstitutional to
punish men for their opinions
Congress enacted law over Truman’s veto
Spies Among Us – Alger Hiss
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Former State
Department official
Accused by Whittaker
Chambers (former
Communist spy) of
spying for the Soviets
Chambers produced
microfilm of
government
documents claimed to
have been typed on
Hiss’s typewriter
Spies Among Us – Alger Hiss
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Statute of limitations
up for espionage
charge – instead
convict him of
perjury
Richard Nixon
prosecuted Hiss
1990s Soviets
released cables that
confirmed Hiss’s guilt
Spies Among Us – The
Rosenbergs
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Ethel and Julius
September 3, 1949 Soviets explode
atomic bomb
though U.S. experts
had said that the
Soviets should still be
3-5 years behind
Fear that U.S.
individuals were
giving Soviets our
secrets
Spies Among Us – The
Rosenbergs
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Ethel and Julius
German-born
physicist, Klaus Fuchs
admits giving Soviets
info on American
atomic bomb
Implicated with
Fuchs is Ethel & Julius
Rosenberg, minor
members of the
American
Communist Party
Spies Among Us – The
Rosenbergs
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When asked if they were communists the Rosenbergs
plead the fifth amendment

Claimed they were being persecuted because they
were Jewish and they held radical beliefs

They were found guilty of espionage & sentenced to
death
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Worldwide call for clemency that was denied
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1st Americans executed for espionage – electric chair
McCarthyism
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Joseph McCarthy
Ineffective Junior
senator from Wisconsin
Needs issue to get
reelected –
Communism
Made continuous
unsupported
accusations of
Communism - no
substantiating
evidence
McCarthyism
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Joseph McCarthy
Made all his claims in
the Senate – immunity
Never produced a
name but claimed to
have at any time 50200 names
Blamed Democrats for
“20 years of treason” –
Republicans did not
respond – want 1952
presidency
McCarthyism
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McCarthy’s Downfall
Senator Margaret Smith and 5 other senators
take him on
McCarthy makes accusation against U.S.
Army (1954)
Televised Senate investigation
His bullying tactics cause him to lose public
support
Condemned by the Senate for improper
conduct
McCarthyism
McCarthy’s Legacy
 By 1953 – 39 states pass laws making it
illegal to promote the overthrow of the
government
 Laws were later deemed unconstitutional
and overturned because of freedom of
speech
 Every industry was investigated for
communist activity