McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare

American Cold War Culture and Law

President Truman Expands the federal bureaucracy.National Security Act of 1947

NSCDoDCIA

President Truman Expands fed govt size and powerExecutive Order 9835

Barred members of the Communist Party from federal employment.

Fascists tooStates started to do this tooLoyalty oaths

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Wisconsin Republican facing defeat in election of 1950Turns to a platform of anti-Communism

The List“I have here a list of 205 names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.”

Definition of McCarthyismThe fear, suspicion, and scapegoating that surrounded McCarthy, his accusations and the general curtailment of civil rights during the Cold War era. It was a witch-hunt style campaign to silence critics of the Cold War.

House UnAmerican Activities Committee

(HUAC)Subcommittee of the House of RepresentativesPurpose: To root out “subversion” of the American systemThe Question: “Are you now or

have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”

The McCarran ActFormal name: The Internal Security ActRequires communist organizations to register with the Subversive Activities Control BoardAuthorizes the arrest of suspect persons during national emergencySix concentration camps

built for this purpose

The Immigration and Nationality Act

Another McCarran-authored lawBarred people who were deemed either “subversive” or “homosexual” from becoming citizens or even visiting the U.S.Power to deport immigrants who were members of the Communist Party, even if they were citizensIn effect until 1973

Examples of McCarthyismIn NYC, citizens must take loyalty oath to receive a fishing licenseFDR’s New Deal is re-evaluated as “a socialist conspiracy” and “20 years of treason”Jonas Salk invents vaccine for Polio; a congressman suggests that it be distributed to all school-age children for free. Eisenhower’s Secretary of Health rejects the idea as an attempt to “socialize medicine through the backdoor.”