Second Red Scare Flashcards
What were 3 reasons for why the Second Red Scare arose?
1) Rise of the USSR as a global superpower
2) Wars like the Korean War making people fear the spread of communism
3) The trials of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs between 1949 and 1951 led to fears of espionage by the Soviets
How did McCarthy contribute to the Red Scare?
Tried to stated he had the names of 205 known communists to which he didn’t have a list for and kept changing to 57 and then again to 81
Despite this, he remained popular and helped allow the creation of ‘red-baiters’ to hound people of being suspected communists
How did the Red Scare affect civil liberties?
Allowed the FBI to bring in people for questioning on very little evidence and allowed them to open people’s letters, tap phones and bug homes
Why did the Red Scare begin to calm down by the mid 50’s?
The Tydings Committee declared McCarthy to be spouting half-truths and lies and overtime, the hysteria began to calm down
But, anti-communism remained a prevalent force
