How did the red scare emerge? how did it impact american politics and society?

To what extent did the Red Scare influence American society during the early stage of the cold war? The United States and the Soviet Union had entered the state of the rivalry after the end of World War II; this marked the beginning of the Cold War. When the conflict between the two countries intensified in the late 40s and early 50s, fear and hysteria toward communism rose and became the dominant mindset in the United States. This is the time which was later known as the Second Red Scare. The Red Scare quickly spread across the States as American people feared that communism would take over their country one day. The era had significant impacts on American society during the early stage of the Cold War. Shortly after the beginning of the Red Scare, a phenomenon which is known as McCarthyism appeared and shaped American politics. The anti-communist movement reached its peak in February 1950, when Senator Joseph McCarthy capitalised the fear by claiming he had a list of more than 200 communists working inside the American government. Although McCarthy never proved his proclaims by any credible evidence, the event resulted in large-scale of investigation towards communists and communist sympathiser within the US government which was led to massive amount of resignations. However, a significant number of suspects were just liberal democrats and left-leaning figures. Also, conservative political value became more popular as it was strongly opposed to communist ideology. To

The Cold War was sparked by the immediate aftermath of World War II. The Allied Forces were divided by ideology and quickly separated into two camps: the Western democracies, led by the United States, and the Communist nations, dominated by the Soviet Union. This alignment served as the basic framework of the Cold War over the next fifty years, from 1947-1991. As America positioned itself in opposition to totalitarian regimes, American citizens were forced to confront realities of what "freedom" meant, or should mean.

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The Red Scare was a period during the 1940s-50s when Americans became anxious that Communists had infiltrated the home front. The public backlash against communism led Senator Joseph McCarthy to spearhead a series of public restrictions and trials on charges of treason. Groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, condemned McCarthy's campaign as an attempt to unjustly restrict civil liberties and free speech.

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This lesson will foster class discussion of the American definition of freedom and the appropriateness of governments in restricting civil liberties in the pursuit of peace and stability. Students will be asked to connect these larger themes to past events, such as the Salem witch trials and the WWII Japanese internment camps, as well as contemporary events, such as the post-9/11 response to American Muslims.

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Topics

Civil Rights

Politics

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Big Ideas

Cause and Effect

Historical Context

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Essential Questions

What role do multiple causations play in describing a historic event?

Why is time and space important to the study of history?

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Concepts

• Learning about the past and its different contexts shaped by social, cultural, and political influences prepares one for participation as an active, critical citizen in a democratic society.

• Historical comprehension involves evidence-based discussion and explanation, an analysis of sources including multiple points of view, and an ability to read critically to recognize fact from conjecture and evidence from assertion.

• Historical causation involves motives, reasons, and consequences that result in events and actions. Some consequences may be impacted by forces of the irrational or the accidental.

Competencies

• Analyze the interaction of cultural, economic, geographic, political, and
  social relations for a specific time and place.

• Contrast multiple perspectives of individuals and group in interpreting other times, cultures, and places.

• Evaluate cause-and-result relationships bearing in mind multiple causations.

Background Material for Teacher

• National Archive's collection of the correspondence between Senator McCarthy and President Truman

• The Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Preserving American Freedom annotated entries for an anti-Communist and an anti-McCarthy publication

• Good Night and Good Luck, a 2005 docudrama about journalist Edward R. Murrow's challenge to Sen. McCarthy's anti-Communist crusade.

End of Unit Assessment

• Students are to write a 2-3 page response paper, contrasting the two groups (HUAC and ACLU) and their points of view. They should use evidence drawn from the two primary documents as well as knowledge culled from class discussion and the Good Night and Good Luck film.

• Other essay topics might include a summary of the short- and long-term effects of McCarthyism or an analysis of Edward R. Murrow's quote, "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty."

• Students could also research and write a biography of a famous American who was blacklisted following investigation by McCarthy or the HUAC.

  What was the Red Scare and how did it impact American society?

  The Second Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War II, was preoccupied with the perception that national or foreign communists were infiltrating or subverting American society and the federal government. The name refers to the red flag as a common symbol of communism.

  How did the Red Scare emerge quizlet?

  After World War II, the second Red Scare happened due to a fear of communist espionage. In the midst of the Berlin Blockade, a Soviet Eastern Europe and both the Korean and Chinese Civil War, people were very afraid of the threat of communism.

  How did the Red Scare influence American life quizlet?

  What was the impact of the Red Scare on 1920s society? It lead to the deportation of many people, and Americans now feared communists and assumed any immigrant or member of a labor union was one.

  What was the first Red Scare and what was its impact?

  The First Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of far-left movements, including Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian 1917 October Revolution and anarchist bombings.