The Red Scare Flashcards
What was the ‘Red Scare’?
The fear of a communist revolution.
Who were often targets of this scare?
- Immigrants
- People in workers’ unions e.g. IWW-International Workers of the World Union
- Anyone with left-wing political ideas
- Members of the Socialist Party
How serious did the USA take the ‘Red Scare’?
Very seriously.
Newspapers and radios spoke of this fear daily.
It even reached the government, with thousands of people being arrested, imprisoned and deported.
How did patriotism cause the ‘Red Scare’?
The USA worked hard to build patriotism during WW1 against Germany. Many people then began suspecting people of German origin in the USA. They were suspicious that they didn’t whole heartedly support the war effort.
When the war ended a group known as the ‘American Legion’ was set up. They urged the government to pass laws against immigrants.
How did economic problems cause the ‘Red Scare’?
By the end of the war 4 million people were in the armed forced and around 9 million worked in war industries. When the war ended they became unemployed.
Some employers began to exploit the situation, lowering wages and putting up the working hours. This work system mimicked that of communist employment.
How did workers unrest cause the ‘Red Scare’?
Workers began to go on strike due to their poor working conditions e.g. 6th Feb, general strike involving 60,000 workers. This caused a lot of publicity and people reacted as if the strike had been violent. The press reacted as if this was a communist uprising.
How did violence cause the ‘Red Scare’?
April 1919- more than 30 letter bombs had been posted to important people all over the USA. Half exploded. In June, much larger bombs were set off in 8 US cities. These were by anarchist groups (people who wanted to overthrow the government).
