Causes & Effects of the Second Red Scare (College Board AP® US History)

Timeline

1938 – The House Un-American Activities Committee is created

1947 – Second Red Scare begins

1947 – Loyalty Review Board is created

1947 – Congress passes the Taft-Hartley Act

1949 – Algar Hiss was tried for giving classified documents to the Soviet Union

1950 – Senator Joseph McCarthy announces that he has a list of communists working in the State Department

1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed

1954 – Senate hearings about communists infiltrating the army are televised

Summary

The Second Red Scare began in 1947. As the Soviet Union installed communist governments in Eastern European nations, rumors about communists on American soil began to spread. This fueled paranoia that the Communist Party had infiltrated every aspect of American life. The federal government passed new laws that allowed for the investigation of government employees and restricted the influence of communism in labor unions. 

At the center of the Red Scare was Republican senator Joseph McCarthy, who tried to enhance his political standing by insisting that communist influences were everywhere, even in the highest levels of government. Between his actions, those of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and other anti-communist groups, many Americans suspected of siding with the Communist Party lost their jobs and the respect of their neighbors. In extreme cases, a few Americans lost their lives.

Public Paranoia

• The Second Red Scare was a continuation of the Red Scare that began during the Russian Revolution in 1917

  • In 1917, Americans were afraid that labor leaders might overthrow the U.S. federal government just like the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian monarchy 

• The Second Red Scare began after World War II ended and just as the Cold War was beginning

• Instead of leaving Eastern Europe as promised, the Soviet Union set up communist governments in countries that its army had liberated from the Nazis

  • Americans were afraid the Soviets would try to spread communism to even more nations

• Americans became even more concerned in 1949 when it was revealed that Alger Hiss, a former State Department official, willingly gave classified documents to Soviet agents

• For many Americans, the Hiss case proved that communists held important positions in the U.S. government

• Republicans pushed this narrative

  • They wanted Americans to equate communism with liberalism and the Democratic Party

  • Republicans had been using the Democrats are communists message since the 1930s when they criticized President Franklin Roosevelt’s largely successful New Deal

Investigating & Demanding Loyalty

• The federal government took many steps to root out communism in the government, the workplace, and the entertainment industry

• The House of Representatives created the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1938 to investigate citizens accused of being associated with the Communist Party

  • Many of those investigated were government employees or Hollywood celebrities, for example, the actor Charlie Chaplin and the playwright Arthur Miller

• President Truman’s administration created the Loyalty Review Board (1947‒1951)

  • It examined the backgrounds of more than 3 million federal employees

  • Thousands of people either lost their jobs or resigned due to the investigation

• Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act (1947), also known as the Labor Management Relations Act

  • Among other measures, it was meant to stop communist influence in labor unions

McCarthyism

• Republican senator Joseph McCarthy positioned himself as a central figure in the Second Red Scare to advance his political career

• In 1950, he said he had a list of 205 communists working in the State Department

  • McCarthy never revealed any names

  • He had enormous power over other politicians who were terrified he would reveal their names, even if they were not  on the list

    • McCarthy primarily went after Democrats leading up to the 1952 presidential election

• Televised Senate hearings about communists infiltrating the army in 1954 showed Americans that McCarthy was nothing more than a bully

  • His fellow Republicans turned on him later that year when he was censured by the Senate

  • Americans soon realized that their fears of a communist takeover of the United States were an overreaction

Naming Names

• Across the country, many Americans lost their jobs because of their alleged involvement with the Communist Party

• This included government employees, entertainers, scientists, scholars, and teachers

• The Hollywood Ten were ten movie producers, directors, and screenwriters who refused to answer the HUAC’s questions about their affiliation with communism

  • After going to prison for being in contempt of Congress, most were blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios

  • The blacklist expanded throughout the 1950s as the HUAC continued questioning people who worked in the movie industry

  • Those who cooperated with the HUAC often accused friends and coworkers of being communists in order to protect themselves

  • Those who did not cooperate risked jail time and being added to the blacklist

• Other Americans lost their lives for their involvement with the Communist Party

  • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953 for giving the Soviet Union U.S. military secrets about building the atomic bomb