McCarthyism And The Red Scare Flashcards
What was the period of rivalry called between the USSR and USA called?
The cold war
What were the two different political systems of the USSR and USA? (2)
the United States was based upon capitalism and democracy while the Soviet Union was based upon communism and dictatorship
What did the Truman Policy promise in 1947?
the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.
List 3 events outside of the USA that led to a growing fear of communism in the USA (3)
The Red Scare - the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism or radical leftism (a term used in USA in the 1920s) , Russian revolution 1.5 million Russians lived in America and there was a mistrust of the Russian citizens living in America.
What was HUAC?
House Un-American Activities Committee
What was the role of HUAC?
An organization of people that investigated in American citizens everyday life trying to find out who was a communist spy’s
What famous case in 1947 involved the movie industry and what happened to those involved? (2)
The Hollywood ten, they did not cooperate with HUAC’s hearings on anti-communist activity they were indicted for contempt of congress and were sentenced to brief imprisonment
What did Truman introduce in 1947 that gave more powers to the FBI to investigate all government employees and sack any security risks?
Truman introduced the ‘loyalty program’ which gave FBI permission to watch people in the government and sack anyone that was suspicious
What happened to millions investigated by the HUAC and FELP between 1947 and 1950?
They lost their jobs and some where even arrested
What was Alger Hiss accused of in 1953? How did this increase the fear of communism?
(2)
Alger Hiss was accused of passing secret military information to the Soviet Union and he was sentenced to five years in prison. Many people though communists could be anyone and could be passing information.
What was the name of the couple that were found guilty of spying in 1953? How did this increase the fear of communism and what happened to them? (3)
In June 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage under the U.S the Rosenberg’s were convicted of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union in 1945.
How did Senator McCarthy become famous in 1950 and why did he do this? (2)
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy became famous when he claimed to possess a list of 200 card-carrying Communists employed in the U.S. Department of State.
Why were many of his campaigns likened to ‘witch hunts’?
McCarthy’s methods to eliminate communism in the US were as close to a witch hunt as possible as they hunted down communists and — those who were accused were often suspected without evidence, tried unfairly, and further smeared if they attempted to defend themselves.
Why did people start to question McCarthy’s evidence?
He started to accuse hi ranking army generals and people started to doubt him
How and why did people start to see McCarthy and his anti-communism as being ‘un-American’?
He started accusing Americans for fame so that it looked like he was saving america
