The Red Scare
The Cold War was a decades-long standoff between the Soviet Union and the United
States. During this time, the Union was working to convert eastern European governments to
leftism and eventually spread communism on a global scale. Britain and America were scared of
this reality because it clashed with the ideals of their own nations. America was especially
hypersensitive to this attempted takeover, so much so that it, cumulatively, lasted 10 years.
Referred to as the “Red Scare'' or “McCarthyism” (though those terms refer to the same concept,
they are not the same thing), the fear of communism during those years was reminiscent of the
Salem witch trials; accusations of communist affiliation were common as paranoia held the
nation in a vice grip.
The Red Scare consisted of two eras; the first lasted from 1917 to 1920 (with a peak
between 1919 and 1920), and the second from 1947 to 1954. The 1910s to 20 Red Scare began
shortly after the first World War. America was facing multiple crises including labor strikes,
domestic bomings, and violent raids ordered by then Attorney General Alexander Mitchell
Palmer which went after suspected leftist radicals and anarchists. The labor strikes were
particularly notable because they inspired xenophobia throughout the nation. Immigrants were
blamed as being the cause of the strikes, as it was thought that they sought to destroy the spirit of
America.
This ties in with the aforementioned raids, known as the Palmer Raids, because they were
often targeted at immigrant Americans. In addition, an act called The Sedition Act of 1918
, suppressed citizens' abilities to express negative opinions about the government, the military, and
prohibited supporting anyone who did the same. Punishments included fines up to $10,000 or
twenty years in prison. These factors, combined with the recent communist overtake in Russia
because of the Russian Revolution in 1917, sparked an intense unrest. The prejudice to those
who were un-American in ancestry or beliefs and the anxiety over the Russian Revolution and
communism would create a combination that would catalyze one of the most notorious time
periods in the history of the United States.
The second Red Scare began between the wake of World War II and the cusp of the Cold
War. It was marked by the previously mentioned Soviet-American feud and a Chinese political
faction called the Chinese Communist Party. Headed by Mao Zedong, he and the party spread
communism throughout China. Add to that the fact that the Soviet Union tested a nuclear bomb
and that both of these events happened in the same year (1949). The following year was the
beginning of an era called McCarthyism when Wisconsin senator Joseph R. McCarthy came
forth with accusations that members of the United States government, such as the Department of
State and later the Central Intelligence Agency, were undercover communists.
McCarthy rose from almost complete obscurity to national prominence after claiming he
had the names of 57 supposed communists in the DoS (the exact number of names McCarthy
claimed to have is inconsistent, varying between 57, 81, and 205). The situation escalated two
years later in 1952 when Joseph McCarthy joined the Senate Permanent Investigation
Subcommittee (a subcommittee tasked with investigating issues such as organized crime and
The Cold War was a decades-long standoff between the Soviet Union and the United
States. During this time, the Union was working to convert eastern European governments to
leftism and eventually spread communism on a global scale. Britain and America were scared of
this reality because it clashed with the ideals of their own nations. America was especially
hypersensitive to this attempted takeover, so much so that it, cumulatively, lasted 10 years.
Referred to as the “Red Scare'' or “McCarthyism” (though those terms refer to the same concept,
they are not the same thing), the fear of communism during those years was reminiscent of the
Salem witch trials; accusations of communist affiliation were common as paranoia held the
nation in a vice grip.
The Red Scare consisted of two eras; the first lasted from 1917 to 1920 (with a peak
between 1919 and 1920), and the second from 1947 to 1954. The 1910s to 20 Red Scare began
shortly after the first World War. America was facing multiple crises including labor strikes,
domestic bomings, and violent raids ordered by then Attorney General Alexander Mitchell
Palmer which went after suspected leftist radicals and anarchists. The labor strikes were
particularly notable because they inspired xenophobia throughout the nation. Immigrants were
blamed as being the cause of the strikes, as it was thought that they sought to destroy the spirit of
America.
This ties in with the aforementioned raids, known as the Palmer Raids, because they were
often targeted at immigrant Americans. In addition, an act called The Sedition Act of 1918
, suppressed citizens' abilities to express negative opinions about the government, the military, and
prohibited supporting anyone who did the same. Punishments included fines up to $10,000 or
twenty years in prison. These factors, combined with the recent communist overtake in Russia
because of the Russian Revolution in 1917, sparked an intense unrest. The prejudice to those
who were un-American in ancestry or beliefs and the anxiety over the Russian Revolution and
communism would create a combination that would catalyze one of the most notorious time
periods in the history of the United States.
The second Red Scare began between the wake of World War II and the cusp of the Cold
War. It was marked by the previously mentioned Soviet-American feud and a Chinese political
faction called the Chinese Communist Party. Headed by Mao Zedong, he and the party spread
communism throughout China. Add to that the fact that the Soviet Union tested a nuclear bomb
and that both of these events happened in the same year (1949). The following year was the
beginning of an era called McCarthyism when Wisconsin senator Joseph R. McCarthy came
forth with accusations that members of the United States government, such as the Department of
State and later the Central Intelligence Agency, were undercover communists.
McCarthy rose from almost complete obscurity to national prominence after claiming he
had the names of 57 supposed communists in the DoS (the exact number of names McCarthy
claimed to have is inconsistent, varying between 57, 81, and 205). The situation escalated two
years later in 1952 when Joseph McCarthy joined the Senate Permanent Investigation
Subcommittee (a subcommittee tasked with investigating issues such as organized crime and
