Transcript The Red Scare - IB-History-of-the

By: Jesseicka Brown
During the World War I era, the
U.S. experienced a “Red Scare,”
or national hysteria about the
dangers of communists and
radicals. The Red Scare was
influenced by wartime
patriotism, immigration from
eastern Europe, and the
Bolshevik revolution in Russia,
and fueled by newspaper
editorials and cartoons.
Cartoon by James P. Alley which
is a “European Anarchist”
sneaking up on the Statue of
Liberty. At time of the red
scare, anarchist was the term
for people who wanted to
overthrow the government.

The so-called "Red Scare"
refers to the fear of
communism in the
USA during the
1920’s.
 It is said that there were
over 150,000 anarchists
or communists in USA in
1920 alone and this
represented only 0.1% of
the overall population of
the USA.
Central Powers
Leaders hoped that these
alliances would keep the
peace and believed that no
one nation would not attack
the other.
Italy As the great
World War One
begins these alliances were
formed to protect themselves
armed
Austria- from the opposing
forces.
Hungary
Germany
Allied
Powers
France
GreatBritain
Russia
United
States
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Shortly after the end of World War I and the Bolshevik
Revolution in Russia, the Red Scare took hold in the United
States.
Many countries were involved in this war because of the
complex alliances that were formed with developing
countries. In addition, the United States joined the war to
support ally forces. The Red Scare was sparked
by revolutions around the world, especially the Bolshevik
Revolution in Russia. This revolution led to a worldwide fear
of the possibility that other countries might experience this
same type of revolution.
The nation was gripped for fear, innocent people for
expressing their views, civil liberties were ignored, and
many Americans feared that a Bolshevik style revolution
was at hand.
Communism is described as a socialism that
abolishes private ownership and seeks to create a
classless society(the government wanted
everyone to be equal)
 The fear of communism was the driving force
behind all of the social crisis during the Cold
War.
 Citizens were constantly in fear of each others,
the governmental inspection, and the invisible
enemies.
 The fear of communism had caused the jailing of
many screen writers, school teachers, and many
other innocent citizens; the fear also powered
many unnecessary spy trails and unfair jail
sentences.

1. Communism ultimately enslaves its citizens to the will of a
supreme leader.
2. In a communist system, wealth is consumed more quickly than
it is created until it is depleted entirely. This leads to the need to
conquer other nations (usually capitalist democracies) that still
possess wealth.
3. Communists reject and persecute people with religious beliefs.
4. Communists don't allow individuals to strive to accumulate
wealth. This comes into direct conflict with Western systems of
capitalism.
5. communism contradicts the first amendment and takes away
the rights of people by making everyone in society equal… having
a classless society.
 American's
fear of Communism began in the
late 1800's as the working class began to
organize and push for basic rights, wage
concessions, etc.
 The country's economic and political leaders
felt threatened by this assault on their power.
The 'Communists' threatened to overturn all
aspects of American society.
As World War II was ending, a fear-driven
movement known as the Second Red Scare began
to spread across the United States.
 Once the United States no longer had to
concentrate its efforts on winning World War II,
many Americans became afraid that communism
might spread to the United States and threaten
the nation's democratic values.
 One of the main tactics used at the federal level
was the creation of various investigative
committees. Senator Joseph McCarthy chaired
one such committee, hoping to end communist
influence in the federal government.
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Joseph McCarthy was a United
States Senator representing the
state of Wisconsin.
Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to
have lists of names of people that
secretly held allegiances with the
communist parties, lists that often
contained names of many high
ranking public officials and also
celebrities.
The media, which was so important
in the fifties, picked up on
McCarthy's "blacklists" and ran them
in the papers. As a result, not only Joseph McCarthy served in the
was communism a force from
Senate from 1947 until his
overseas to fear, it was a force
within America’s own boundaries. death in 1957 at the age of 48

The fear of communist created
McCarthyism which was an intense
effort to root out communists from
American society.

One focus of popular McCarthyism
concerned the provision of public
health services, particularly
vaccination, mental health care
services and fluoridation, all of
which were deemed by some to be
communist plots to poison or
brainwash the American people.

The first recorded use of the term
Herbert Block
McCarthyism was in a political
cartoon by Herbert Block.
The cartoon depicts four leading Republicans
trying to push an elephant ( which is the
traditional symbol of the Republican Party) to
stand on a teetering stack of ten tar buckets, the
topmost of which was labeled "McCarthyism".
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The press and public became more and more involved in
McCarthy’s assertions. The press and public demanded to
know who was on the list and how McCarthy knew they were
communists. From this start, everyday people started to
look at friends, relatives and neighbors differently.
Suddenly, everyday people were being suspected of being
communists, without proof.
In the 1950’s, the U.S. Senate had committee meetings to
uncover communists, and many Americans were brought in
front of the committee to answer questions as to whether
they were members of the communist party.
By the mid-1950’s the ideals of McCarthyism started to lose
support, and the public started to believe that the chase for
the red scare was actually a red herring(a clue which is
intended to be misleading or distracting from the actual
truth). By the time of McCarthy’s death in 1957.
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A fervent patriotism was prevalent in the country, spurred
by propagandist George Creel, chairman of the United
States Committee on Public Information. While American
boys were fighting the "Huns" abroad, many Americans
fought them at home. Anyone who wasn't as patriotic as
possible such as "slackers," German-Americans, immigrants
and Communists were suspect.
Innocent people were jailed and imprisoned for expressing
their views and many were questioned.
Spurred by public expectations, the Justice Department
acted in November 1919 and January 1920 by launching
massive raids. More than ten thousand people were
arrested.
• In 1952, the Ohio Un-American
Activities Committee contended that
1,300 Ohioans were members of the
Communist Party.
•
In 1953, the Ohio General Assembly, with
Governor Frank Lausche's approval, extended the
Ohio Un-American Activities Committee's
existence. Lausche generally opposed the
committee's actions, but he faced great pressure
from Ohio voters, who feared communism, to
continue seeking out communists.
• The governor contended that the committee's actions might put into
"grave danger. . .the reputations of innocent people against whom
accusations can be made on the basis of rumor and frequently
rooted in malice," but he also stated that "Communism is a menace
to our country."
After the fall elections of 1954, the
Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for
conduct unbecoming to his office.
 These violations had begun to convince
many Americans to not support the
actions of the state and the federal
governments.
 This bringing the worst aspects of the
Second Red Scare to an end, although
many Americans continued to fear
communists and their influence.

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Following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the establishment of the
Soviet Union, the Communists made efforts to promote revolutions in
Europe and the US. In 1919, President Wilson appointed A. Mitchell Palmer
as his attorney-general. His attempts to root out the communists,
anarchists, and other radicals became known as The Red Scare. Bombs
were found by the US Post Office, addressed to prominent politicians and
capitalists. An anarchist was blown up outside of Palmer’s home. News was
leaked to the press that the government was investigating important
Americans and there was a belief that a radical overthrow of the
government was in the works. Palmer enlisted the services of an attorney,
J. Edgar Hoover, to help enforce provisions of the Espionage Act and the
Sedition Act (1917/1918). A series of “Palmer Raids” were held in
November, 1919, and thousands of anarchists, immigrants, and
communists were rounded up. Many were detained without being charged
and many were simply deported back to their native country with no
evidence that they had done anything wrong. Palmer continued his raids
despite finding no evidence of any kind of communist plot. Palmer claimed
that May 1, 1920 (the socialist Labor Day) would bring massive
demonstrations against the government. Nothing happened. The public
became aware that Palmer was detaining people without cause, conducting
searches without warrants, and deporting immigrants for no reason. Some
even suggested he was making up the crisis so he could gain the
nomination of the Democrats for president in 1920. Palmer’s popularity
fell and the Red Scare came to an end as quickly as it started.
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