The 1920's and 1950's Red Scare

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In the 1950’s, the U.S government black listed artists, playwright and other intellectuals as Communists and unfairly destroyed many careers. The Red Scare in the 1950’s was actually America’s second red scare. The 1920’s red scare was what helped start suspicion over Communists, but was put off during World War 2. It was no coincidence that what many people called the second red scare ignited after World War 2, during the Cold War, in the 1950’s. The 1920’s red scare started because Americans were paranoid over the fact that Russia may seek revenge after they had overthrown a royal Russian family in 1917. What started Communist ideas in the U.S at the time was the fact that since the war was over many of people were out of jobs which caused people to ask how efficient was the government. The most successful and noteworthy of all the Soviet parties in the 1920’s had to be the International Workers of the World, which was also called the I.W.W or the Wobblies. The Wobblies first strike was on January 21 1919 where about 35,000 shipyard workers struck. They were immediately labeled reds, or Communists. After the first strike mass panic struck the U.S and many major chain stores had to reassure their customers that their workers would not revolt. A mayor named Ole Hansen from Seattle took the Wobblies strikes personally. Strikes continued over the next 6 months and were labeled as “crimes against society”, “conspiracies against the government” and even “plots to establish Communism”. This was when Attorney General A. “ “Mitchell Palmer started the General Intelligence” (http://law2.umkc.edu) or the anti-radical Division of Bureau Investigation on August 1, 1919, with Edgar Hoover another Justice Department employee. The mission o... ... middle of paper ... ...if it were cut off from power, a cafeteria, EMGOVSITCEN, which stood for Emergency Government Situation Centre, and was meant to be the eye and ears of the outside for the bunker, phone booths, a broadcasting studio, a decontamination center, a health center and confinement area, a dentist office, an emergency escape hatch and an emergency radio. The 1950’s Red Scare did majorly impact artists and intellectuals of the time, but it also affected everyone from the average citizen to the highest ranking solider in the military. It is also very important to mention that the Red Scare also affected Canadians of the 1950’s and Canadian immigrants that lived in the area at the time. The thesis statement however is still a solid fact that can’t simply be shirked away and is a part of a moment in time that historians say is “the most despicable moment in human history.”

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