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Reasons for the red scare gcse history
Essay The red scare
Essay The red scare
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This investigation will seek to answer How was the United States impacted societally by the use of espionage and intelligence during the Cold War? and will examine the intelligence war, based on espionage, and it’s impact on American society, with the Red Scare, and ideology, with McCarthyism. While the intelligence war impacted Americans in many other ways, including politically and militarily, this review will focus solely on the societal effects. Therefore, the book, “McCarthy's Americans: Red Scare Politics in State and Nation, 1935-1965” by M J. Heale and the article “Red Scare” found on History.com, are valuable sources due to their insight into the ideologies and attitudes that developed in the United States society as a result of secret …show more content…
intelligence operations during this period. Source: Heale, Michael J. "McCarthy's Americans: Red Scare Politics in State and Nation, 1935-1965." (1998). The origin of this source is The University of Georgia within the United States in 1998. The values of the origin of this source is that it is likely reliable in defining aspects of American society during the Cold War because it is in America, also, it was written after the Cold War and therefore the author is able to overlook everything that occurred in society during the length of the war. The limitation of the origin is that the author himself is from the United Kingdom but studies American History and with that, he did not have first hand involvement in Cold War era American society, which may impact his perspective. The purpose of this source is to inform about the Red Scare within United States society during 1935 through 1965. The value of the purpose of this source is that it is focused primarily on the United States during the first 20 years of the Cold War and the red scare. However, the limitation of the purpose of this source is that it is generally centered on political policy changes due to the war on central intelligence rather than societal which is the focus of this investigation. The content of this source includes information regarding political changes due to the McCarthyism, the campaign against alleged communists within the governmental system as well as other institutions of power and overall the Red Scare. The value of the content of this source is that it is about an ideology that many people in the US held at this time and with that, impacted the way society worked. The limitations of the content of this source is that it is focused on political policies in the United States rather than society as is the focus of this investigation. Source: History.com Staff. "Red Scare." History.com. A+E Networks, 2010. Web. 25 Sept. 2016. The origin of this source is a non-fiction website based on Historical research and the display of historical fact. The value of the origin of this source is that it is based on historical research and compiles information from many sources. The limitation of this source is that it does not display the credentials of the author nor does it display the sources it was interpreted from. The purpose of this source is to inform about the Red Scare in United States Society during the cold war. The value of the purpose of this source is that it is based on a societal event that can be used within the investigation. The limitation of the purpose of this source is that it is primarily based on the Red Scare without contributing outside effects on society. The content of this source is the definitions and background on McCarthyism and the Red Scare during the time period within US society. The value of the content of this source is that it is useful to outlining the entirety of research done for this investigation due to it’s broad overlay of information. The limitation of the content of this source is that it is broad and does not go into specifics about significant events and with that it needs follow up research from other sources. Part B: Investigation Throughout the Cold War, intelligence proved to be the primary tactic utilized by the United States against the Soviet Union. The war, sparked by the increasing threat of communism in the Western World, caused an increase in the manufacture and development of intelligence-based technologies, such as the U2 spy planes. Despite the advancement of intelligence technology, the development in war methodology led to both positive and negative influences on the American society such as the Red scare and the patriotism American intelligence successes brought to the nation. Espionage may be defined as the actions taken by individuals in order to attain confidential information about their competitor or enemy. In the case of the Cold War, the United States sought to learn secrets from the Soviet Union because of the feud between the two nations over the arms, nuclear, and space races. The employment of espionage against the United States by Russia is seen in the outcome of the Manhattan Project, the plans to produce an atomic bomb in order to end the war with Germany. Within the project itself, specifically the research and development lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Communist and Soviet spies working on the Manhattan Project, such as David Greenglass, were found to be delivering information regarding the United State’s nuclear progress to the Soviet Union which in turn assisted in the development of their own weapons . This demonstrates the use of espionage by the Soviet Union against the United States because the Soviets were able to receive information on the United States’ confidential operations and with that were able to develop their own nuclear weaponry. The insight achieved by spies not only helped accelerate Soviet progress in terms of atomic warfare, but it also endangered US national security when later, Soviet Russia would begin to threaten the application of these weapons during the Cold War. The idea that the United States was getting ahead of the Soviets during the Cold War in regards to that arms race and war technology influenced the Soviets to increase their research and motivate the arms race between the two parties further. The Red Scare was the “hysteria over the perceived threat posed by the Communists in the U.S.” .
Paranoia plagued society on a widespread scale and encouraged many to question the loyalty of those in their community. This Red Scare lasted throughout the 1940s and 1950s and was characterized by the investigation of all government employees and their allegiance to the United States as well as by the Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s tactics of intimidation towards anyone who disagreed with his political views . The Red Scare, a product of the use of espionage, had a negative impact on society because it caused extensive panic throughout the country that would evolve into ideologies such as McCarthyism, events such as the Palmer Raids, and the lack of security the public felt under their current government. From the perspective of an American citizen during the Red Scare, intimidation produced by Soviet Russia in terms of the increasing tensions during the Cold War encouraged high levels of paranoia and panic throughout the nation. In conclusion, the Red Scare harmed society because it was a prevalent event that caused general outcry and suspicion of Soviet activity in the United States fueling the public to support the Cold War as well as ideologies such as McCarthyism that would lead to the investigation of innocent
people. McCarthyism is named after it’s founder, Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. It was developed after McCarthy gave a speech in 1950 and caused a movement of widespread paranoia towards Soviet espionage throughout American society. Many powerful men, including FBI director Edgar Hoover, held this ideology and used their power to follow the ideals of it. This led to the evidence-less arrest of many suspected Communist spies in the United States . McCarthyism is another negative impact of espionage on American society because, just as the Red Scare, it fueled widespread paranoia and panic. McCarthyism led to a large movement in the US government that went against the civil liberties of citizens in order to target domestic communism . The justification of McCarthyism and the judgment of whether or not the ideology was firmly based enough to violate the civil rights as it did, is a commonly debated argument amongst historians . This idea of McCarthyism violating civil liberties of the people impacted society negatively because it caused many innocent people to be accused of espionage and the right of the people to freedom of speech, amongst other rights, were severed. Those with leftist views were forced to hide their opinion in fear of being marked as a communist sympathizer and with that, interrogated and tried. The lack of freedoms in society during the McCarthy era was produced by the constant control over public opinion due to the fear of communists in American society. From the perspective of a McCarthyist, all leftist ideologies threatened the security of the nation due to their close acquaintance with leftist Communism and with that, Soviet Russia. In contrast, from the perspective of a leftist individual, the ideals of McCarthyism threatened the personal safety of liberal thinkers with the possibility of being arrested and interrogated for voicing their beliefs aloud. In conclusion, the use of espionage by Soviet Russia in the United States further sparked movements such as the Red Scare and McCarthyism, which were rooted in ideas of paranoia and panic throughout the country on communist influence within the United States. These ideas led to the loss of civil liberties as well as investigations into the loyalties of thousands of Americans. However, the American use of espionage was highly praised and led to the pride and patriotism of the American people specifically due to the successes of these spies. Part C: Reflection I believe that historical events are classified by whether or not that specific event had a significant effect on that time period or later periods. In other words, if the event taking place impacted or influenced society immediately or later after it occurred, then it can be considered historical. Events are determined to be historically significant for the same reason. Historians who analyze and piece together different historical events determine the significance because they are able to recognize the impacts the event has had throughout later history. The role of a historian is to do just this, piece together and analyze historical events in order to prevent them from reoccurring and determining significance and factuality. In my investigation, I used the same method as historians in that I evaluated the values and limitations of my sources before using them and analyzing them. Historians do this in order to eliminate other historians’ bias and misunderstanding from their reports. The idea of unbiased historical review is rarely possible due to the different perspectives and nationalities of historians. A major challenge that historians battle in remaining a reliable historiographer is the need to be unbiased. This sets historiography off from any other studious profession because in studies such as math and science, human opinion and culture has no way of being reflected through their work. In the case of my investigation, bias was avoided in the sources in which the information was attained. For example, a historian from Russia is likely not an accurate source in relaying information about the United States’ accomplishments in terms of espionage during the Cold War due to his or her bias towards their home country. However, I believe that unbiased descriptions of historical events are possible because if a specific historian has no connection to either party or any topic discussed in the description, than they have no motive to change or shift their review of the event. With this in mind, the reliability of sources should be evaluated. The historian in question should be researched in order to eliminate any unknown biases within the investigation. This leads me to believe that strong terms such as “atrocity” should not be utilized in describing historical events because this is biased. A massacre is what the person on the receiving end would see as awful and horrific however on the other side, the massacre may be seen as an act of bravery and triumph over the victim. The employment of positive ideas based in one group’s ideal over the other is biased and historiographers, being that they should not be biased towards their topics, would never choose an easily biased character.
During the Red Scare, America was in a state of overwhelming panic as a result of the spreading communism around the world. This mania
With the onset of the Cold War, a growing Red Scare would cripple American society – effectively plunging the nation into mass hysteria and unrest over the fallacious threat of communist infiltration. This reaction was precipitated by Republican senator, Joseph McCarthy, in his speech, “Enemies from Within”, delivered in Wheeling, West Virginia, on 9 February 1950. McCarthy paints communists in a particularly harsh light to generate anti-Soviet sentiment within the American public. He uses juxtaposition to engender both indignation and fear in the audience to achieve this effect.
Before the “Red Scare”, the United States was a huge world power and was thriving in every facet possible. Its people could do as they pleased for the most part, and did not have to fear persecution for their beliefs or associations. The entertainment was reaching its prime with celebrities creating the greatest films and writings the country had ever seen (Pearson). This all changed in 1947, when President Harry Truman upset the waters. Earlier in the year, Truman ordered background checks of all the civilians in service. The results that this investigation found was unnerving. Alger Hiss, a high-ranking State Department official, was revealed as a Soviet spy. He was then convicted on espionage charges and served three years in prison. ...
...that people can yet again fear that the communists might attack and send spies within to destroy their beloved country. Take the evidence from the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club when McCarthy stimulated the fear that Communism will spread and their spies will overthrow the democracy through traitorous means. Take the evidence of the Truman’s Response to McCarthy, Truman stated that the Kremlin must have put McCarthy there to cause turmoil and that must be a reason why he must have caused the country to go into a red scare. Take the evidence of the cartoon from Herb Block, which showed McCarthy drive his car into innocent people who had no influence of the communist and were scared by McCarthy’s ways of finding communists. McCarthy wanted to be well known and decided to start the red scare so that everyone else can fear and be aware of the communist everywhere.
The Salem Witch Trials demonstrated a hefty fear onto its residents because of their melodramatic belief that Satan was among their adolescents and themselves.(Salem Witchcraft) During both instances, when a group of people acts irrationally regarding the subject the event symbolizes, it would eventually ignite a spree of illegitimate accusations among others and slander.(Salem Witchcraft) A dread that could arise would be of the fact that your whole essence could be diminished because of a substantial accusation of being involved with Communism.(Red Scare) According to History.com, it states “Americans also felt the effects of the Red Scare on a personal level, and thousands of alleged communist sympathizers saw their lives disrupted.”(Red Scare) This would motivate such a fear that it would arrive in everyone’s lives at that time, especially government or popular figures.(Red
The Red Scare was given its name because everyone feared the idea of communism (“Red”) in America. Fear, especially spread out among a group, is a dangerous and chaotic thing that can cause people to do things that they would not normally do. It can cause people to betray others close to them or not trust some people they would normally trust.
It was perceived that the threat was posed by the communists. Due to this reason, the hysteria adopted the name the “Red Scare”.... ... middle of paper ... ... However, the minority groups started fighting for their rights so as to enjoy their privileges as stipulated by the constitution.
Evans, M. Stanton. “Mccarthyism: Waging The Cold War In America.” Human Events 53.21 (1997): S1. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
The red scare was a time where people were falsely accused of being communist spies, and would be sent to prison. If somebody hated their neighbor, a co-worker, or even a teacher they could just accuse them of being a communist spy. Some cases were even so severe as in the case with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. They were accused for stealing information on the atomic bomb and giving the information to the...
Sulick, Michael J.. Spying in America espionage from the Revolutionary War to the dawn of the Cold War., Georgetown University Press, 2012
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. “
The war was over. The last cry of help had been heard and peace was supposedly coming to the United States. But everyone was wrong. An ideological war which prompted mass paranoia known as the Red Scare had spread through the US. It began in 1919 and ended in 1921. Red Scare was the label given to the actions of legislation, the race riots, and the hatred and persecution of "subversives" and conscientious objectors during that period of time.
The attitude of the citizens of the United States was a tremendous influence on the development of McCarthyism. The people living in the post World War II United States felt fear and anger because communism was related with Germany, Italy, and Russia who had all at one point been enemies of the United States during the war. If the enemies were communists then, communists were enemies and any communists or even communist sympathizers were a threat to the American way of life. "From the Bolshevik Revolution on, radicals were seen as foreign agents or as those ...
There are no asterisks on the Bill of Rights. There are no asterisks clarifying that our rights are contingent upon the state of national security or anything else. Our rights as citizens of the United States are inalienable. Yet, the first Red Scare, McCarthyism, and the War on Terror demonstrate how easily the American government and the American people themselves will sacrifice their own civil rights and liberties for the sake of feeling secure when there is a perceived threat, and many are inclined to take advantage of the situation for their own ends.
Throughout history, certain circumstances and human desires led to problematic events. As a result, creative writers are often inspired to write about such events in their lifetime. The Trojan War inspired Homer, an ancient Greek poet, to write one of the most legendary epics of all time, the Iliad. Likewise, during the mid-twentieth century, loyalty and conformity to the wishes of the country were a must for the government and society for many Americans. This period in time—also known as the “Red Scare”—inspired many famous literary artists of that generation. In fact, the “Red Scare” inspired Arthur Miller to write his figurative play, The Crucible,and the essay, “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?” Although “The Crucible” is fictionalized, unlike