Transcript BELL QUIZ: WRITE 1 PARAGRAPH

Objectives
TLW…
1. Describe government efforts to investigate
the loyalty of Americans.
2. Describe the efforts of Senator Joseph
McCarthy to investigate alleged Communist
influence in the United States.
3. Explain the spy cases of Alger Hiss and Julius
and Ethel Rosenberg.
Witch? Does she float?
Monty Python: “She’s a Witch!”
http://mustikka.oulu.fi/video/witch.htm
Fear of Communism Spreading to America
• In the early years of the Cold War, many
Americans believed that the security of the U.S.
was at risk.
• Communism had already spread to Eastern
Europe, China and North Korea. Was the U.S.
next?
• By 1944, about 100,000 Americans claimed
membership in the Communist Party. Where
was the loyalty of these American Communists?
McCarthyism and the Red Scare
• Senator Joseph McCarthy from
Wisconsin began making
unsupported accusations in 1950
that communism had infiltrated
the State Department.
• Claimed at one time to have the
names of 205 communists in the
U.S. Government.
• All accusations were made on the
Senate floor with no evidence
because he has immunity on the
Senate floor.
McCarthyism
• In 1954, McCarthy accuses the U.S army of
being full of communists (that is why the
Korean War ended in a stalemate according to
him).
• The senate investigates the accusations and
find McCarthy to be instable and acting
illegally.
• McCarthy dies in 1957 from alcoholism.
Guilty until proven innocent?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=n-s6xqd9T8w (McCarthyism)
LOYALTY REVIEW BOARD
• President Truman did not want
to appear as if he was soft on
communism so he established
the Federal Employee Loyalty
Program.
• Purpose: to investigate
government employees and fire
those who were found to be
disloyal.
• 3.2 million employees were
investigated between 1947-51.
212 employees were fired for
“security risks.” 2,900 resigned.
• Individuals under investigation
were not allowed to see the
evidence against them. Against
constitutional rights?
House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC)
• In 1947, HUAC, which was chaired by
J. Parnell Thomas, started an
investigation into the Hollywood
Motion Picture Industry.
• The HUAC interviewed 41 people
who were working in Hollywood.
These people were interviewed
voluntarily and were known as
friendly witnesses supporting the
accusations that Communists had
infiltrated the movie industry.
• Witnesses were required to either
incriminate themselves OR name
someone they know or believe to be
a communist.
• Refusal to testify resulted in jail time
and loss of their job.
THE HOLLYWOOD TEN
• The Friendly witnesses named
nineteen people who they said
were pro communists.
• Ten of those people refused to
answer any questions during the
hearings thus became known as
the Hollywood Ten.
• The ten men claimed that the Fifth
Amendment of the United States
Constitution gave them the right to
refuse to answer questions about
their beliefs.
• The HUAC and the courts disagreed
and all ten men were found guilty
of contempt of congress.
• Each of them was sentenced to
between six and twelve months in
prison.
BLACKLISTS
• Blacklist=a list of people
condemned for being
Communists.
• About 500 actors, writers,
producers, and directors had
their careers ruined because
they could not find work.
• Paul Robeson (Actor): income
fell from $150,000 a year to
$3000 a year.
10 Minute Video Segment: Tony Kahn
Use Pages 616-621
1. How did the cases on Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs
increase the anti-communist mood of Americans?
2. How did these cases make Americans feel unsafe?
3. Do you think fear can swipe away reason? Explain your
reasoning.
4. How did fear of communism cause violations of
freedom in the U.S?
5. How did world events help lead to McCarthyism?
6. How did McCarthy affect the behavior of individual
Americans?
Alger Hiss
• In 1948, American Alger Hiss
was accused of spying for the
Soviet Union.
• Hiss was a U.S. State
Department official involved
in the establishment of the
United Nations.
• Convicted and serves just
under 4 years in prison.
• The case causes fear and
panic to spread across
America.
Soviet Union Develops the Atomic Bomb
• Klaus Fuchs, a German born
physicist, had worked on
the Manhattan Project and
gave the Soviet Union
information enabling them
to develop their own
atomic bomb about 5 years
sooner than they would
have.
RDS-1
• First Soviet Union
atomic bomb exploded
on September 3, 1949.
• Fuchs served just under
9 ½ years in prison
before returning to live
in Germany.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
• Klaus Fuchs implicated Ethel
and Julius Rosenberg as being
American spies for the Soviet
Union and working closely
with Fuchs in passing
information on to the Soviets.
• Both are found guilty of
espionage and electrocuted
on June 19, 1953.
• The Rosenberg spy case
spreads more panic across
America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=zF38CTK0EHU (McCarthy and the
Crucible Character Comparison)
Margaret Chase Smith's "Declaration
of Conscience“ Speech
Causes and Effects of McCarthyism
Causes:
1) Communist take over
of Eastern Europe and
China after WWII.
2) Soviets developed the
atomic bomb more
quickly than expected.
3) Korean War ends in a
stalemate.
Effects:
1) Millions of Americans
are forced to take
loyalty oaths and
undergo loyalty
investigations.
2) Many people are
afraid to speak out on
public issues.
3) Anti-Communism
continues to drive U.S.
foreign policy.
Exit Slip
1) Write one thing you learned today.
2) Rate your understanding of today’s topic on a
scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve
your understanding?
3) Write one thing you didn’t understand today.
4) Write your name.
5) Turn in the Exit Slip to me before you leave
today.