The Red Scare (1950s)

Chapter 26, section 3 in the textbook (pages 822-827)

1. HUAC
The House UnAmerican Activites committee investigated communist influence in the movie industry.


2. Blacklist
Hollywood executives made a list of people who had a communist background. These actors' careers were ruined because they could no longer work.

3. Alger Hiss
A former state department official, Alger Hiss, was accused of spying for the Soviet Union. He was arrested for lying about a document that someone claimed to have been on his typewriter.

4. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
Spies connected with a suspicion of communist americans who were thought to have leaked atomic bomb information. The pleaded the fith amendment and claimed they were being persecuted for being jewish and having radical beliefs. They were found guilty and sentenced to death.

5. Joseph McCarthy
He was an Anti-communist activist, republican and senator.

6. McCarthyism
McCarthy accused many people of being communists without evidence. Now, this refers generally to the unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence.


7. In a paragraph, describe the motivations and actions of Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s. What prompted his actions? What did he do? What happened as a result of his actions?
McCarthy wanted to be reelected as senator. He claimed he had names of communists in the State Department, but actually he didn't. The republicans didn't stop him at first because they thought they would have a better chance of winning the 1952 presidential election if McCarthy was an anti-communist activist. Later, a small group of senators spoke against his actions. In 1954, McCarthy made accusations against the army which led to a nationally televised investigation. This turned the public against him. The senate condemned him and he died three years later.