The Second Red Scare

The Growing Fear of Communism

• Soviets detonate an atomic bomb• Communists win the

civil war in China

House of Un-American Activities Committee

• Created in the 1930s• Purpose was to

investigate radical groups within the United States

• Focused on threat of communism after the start of the Cold War

• Most famous case: Hollywood Ten

Fighting Communism in the Government

• Republicans claimed Communists were working

for the federal gov’t• Truman adopted a plan to

investigate the loyalty of federal employees• Few thousand resigned,

and 200 judged disloyal

Laws Regarding Communism

• Smith Act Crime to call for the overthrow

of the U.S. gov’t Upheld by the Supreme Court

• McCarran Internal Security Act Communist groups had to

register w/the gov’t a special board was created to

investigate all communist activity

Communists barred from entering the country

Truman vetoed, Congress overrode veto

Spy Cases

• Alger Hiss (federal gov’t official) accused of working for the Soviets

• Klaus Fuchs passed atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union

• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are executed for providing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union

Alger Hiss

Klaus Fuchs

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

• Republican senator from Wisconsin• To get reelected, he decided to use fear of

communism • Went on a rampage, announcing that the

government was filled with ‘reds’• Made claims that he had inside knowledge

and proof • McCarthy’s tactic of spreading fear became

known as McCarthyism• Thousands of people fired nationwide• No evidence to support his claims• However, when he accused the army of

having tons of communist subversives, he went to far

• Censured by the Senate, died in disgrace

Senator Joseph McCarthy