Topic 8.3 - The Red Scare

What does HUAC stand for?

House Un-American Activities Committee

HUAC

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was an investigating committee of the House of Representative which used the FBI to investigate suspected communists / radicals inside the United States.

Loyalty Review Program

A policy established by Truman that authorized the FBI to screen all federal employees to determine their loyalty to the American government. Truman was concerned with suspected communists in the federal government.

Joseph McCarthy

US senator; claimed that their were Soviet spies and Communists within the government but had no evidence; his accusations were later discredited by the US Senate

Alger Hiss

A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy. Although he was never found guilty of being a communist spy (which he really was) he was convicted of perjury (lying while under oath)

McCarran Act

It is illegal to combine or conspire with any person trying to overthrow the U.S. government and establish a totalitarian gov't; it also required communist organizations to register with the federal government

Hollywood Ten

group of movie writers, directors, and producers who refused to answer HUAC questions about communist ties; they were blacklisted by the film companies in Hollywood and were not hired for several years

witch hunts

McCarthy's tactics of going after people suspected of having communist ties or leanings; comparable to 17th century events in the Massachusetts Bay colony

McCarthyism

unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty (as by saying they were Communists); this tactic was used by an American Senator in the early 1950s

2nd Red Scare

A period in 1950s America where Anti-Communism was rampant and at a fever pitch

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Arrested in the Summer of 1950 and executed in 1953, they were convicted of conspiring to commit espionage by passing plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

Pink Lady Campaign

Nickname for Richard Nixon's election campaign to get elected to the U.S. Senate from the California; he accused his female opponent of having communist leanings

Yes, the threat was real!

Was the 2nd Red Scare legitimate? Were there really communists working in the U.S. government?