APUSH AMSCO Unit 8.3

explain the causes and effects of the Red Scare after WWII

Second Red Scare

fear of Communism after WWII

Loyalty Review Board

investigated the background of more than 3 million federal employees

Smith Act (1940)

made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force or belong to an organization with this objective

Dennis et al. v. United States

upheld the constitutionality of the Smith Act

McCarran Internal Security Act

made it unlawful to advocate for or support the establishment of a totalitarian government, restricted the employment and travel of those joining Communist-front organizations, and authorized the creation of detention camps for subverseries

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

reactivated postwar to find communists

Whittaker Chambers

star witness in the Hiss case

Alger Hiss

a prominent official in the State department who had assisted Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference —> denied that he was a Communist —> was convicted of perjury

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

the FBI traced a Russian A-bomb spy ring to them —> they were convicted of treason and executed —> people claimed it was fueled by fear not fact

Joseph McCarthy

claimed to have a list of 205 Communists who were working for the State Department; a Senate committee held televised hearings on Communist infiltration in the army and millions of people saw McCarthy as a bully

McCarthyism

the “witch hunt” for Communists