8.3 The Red Scare

The Red Scare

a period of fear and persecution in the United States that occurred twice in the 20th century, first from 1917 to 1920 and again in the 1950s.

Loyalty Review

Truman administration, under pressure from Republican critics, set up a this to investigate the background of more than 3 million federal employees.

McCarren Internal Security Act

Aimed to protect the country from communist subversion through the following methods:

* By making it unlawful to advocate or support the establishment of a totalitarian government.
* By restricting the employment and travel of those joining Communist organizations
* By authorizing the creation of detention camps for subversives.

Subversive Activities Control Board

Had the power to investigate and list organizations as "communist-front" groups. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the act in 1951, but several provisions of the law were later struck down as unconstitutional in the 60s and 70s.

Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

Originally established in 1939 to seek out Nazis, was reactivated in the postwar years to find Communists. The committee not only investigated government officials but also looked for communist influence in such organizations as the Boy Scouts and in the Hollywood film industry. Actors, directors, and writers were called before the committee to testify. Those who refused were tried for contempt of Congress.

The Hiss Case

In 1948 committee member Richard M. Nixon led the chase after Alger Hiss, a prominent ex-New Dealer and a distinguished member of the "eastern establishment." accused of being a communist agent in the 1930s, hiss demanded the right to defend himself.

The Rosenberg Case

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage under the U.S. Espionage Act of 1917. Members of the communist party, the Rosenbergs were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union in 1945.

Who was Joseph McCarthy?

A US Senator who claimed to have a list of communists in the government

What was the name of the lawyer who defended several high-profile targets of the Red Scare, including the Hollywood Ten and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg?

William Kunstler

Who were the Rosenbergs?

American Communists executed for treason

Both the 1920s and the 1950s shared a similarity in all of the following except:

Fear of atomic weapons

What was the name of the government agency established in 1953 to investigate alleged communist influence in the United States?

The Internal Security Division

Which of the following was NOT a tactic used by Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare?

Covert surveillance and wiretapping

During which years was McCarthyism popular?

1950 to 1954

McCarthyism had what immediate effect on most American organizations?

The expulsion of assumed or confirmed communists

All of the following are associated with the Second Red Scare except

The Palmer Raids

Which of the following individuals was NOT accused of being a communist or communist sympathizer during the Red Scare?

Harry S Truman