Objectives:

1. Section 4: The Cold War at Home Objectives: • What actions did the U.S. government take to limit communism at home, and how did these actions affect daily life in America? • How was Senator Joseph McCarthy able to play upon Americans’ fears of communism? • How did Americans react to the prospect of nuclear war?

3. The Twin Fears: America and the Cold War • Fear of nuclear annihilation • Soviet Union created nuclear weapons to defend itself • US and USSR targeted each other with an increasing battery of nuclear weapons • Fear of Communist subversion (overthrow) inside the United States • Soviet communists supported growth of international communism

4. Forum Questions related to this lecture • As Communist governments increased their reach around the world in the late 1940's and 1950's, Americans grew worried that communists and communist sympathizers with influence (such as government officials, teachers and members of the mass media) would weaken the American commitment of freedom and liberty and make the nation an inviting target for a communist take-over.  How did the fear of communism influence life in America?  Use evidence from the primary sources provided as well as the video we watched in class to support your point of view. • In 1947, the Soviet Union successfully tested its first nuclear device and with it, the possibility of making the Cold War into a nuclear war for Americans.  From that point, the Soviet Union and United States entered a deadly arms race that led to the creation of increasingly deadly nuclear arsenals with the capability of creating thousands of Hiroshimas.  How did the American public live with the risks of a deadly nuclear war?  We will watch a civil defense video that instructs people how to react to a nuclear attack.  You will also have the opportunity to tour a fallout shelter and read a civil defense plan.  Develop a clear point of view and support it with supporting primary evidence from the sources provided

5. Section 4: The Cold War at Home Government actions to limit communism at home • Internal Security Act required Communist Party members to register with the federal government and imposed immigration controls on Communist sympathizers. • Loyalty Review Board investigated more than 20,000 federal employees, firing many. • HUAC investigated peace organizations, liberal groups, labor unions, the movie industry, and individuals, leading to blacklists and other damage. • Public hysteria resulted and many Americans’ civil rights were violated.

6. Section 4: The Cold War at Home McCarthy’s use of American fears • claimed to have evidence of Communist infiltration of U.S. government • used his Senate subcommittee to question the patriotism of hundreds of government workers • ruined many reputations and cost people their jobs

7. The Red Menace (1947) • Synopsis:Bill Jones returns to the homefront after World War II hoping for an idyllic peaceful society; instead, he finds poverty and corruption and a government that fails to help the common man -- and so becomes ripe for Communist recruitment. At first he finds the movement compatible, but eventually he recognizes the enemy spies as a threat to democracy. 

8. Section 4: The Cold War at Home American reaction to possibility of nuclear war • Many turned to religion. • Some built bomb shelters. • Air-raid drills conducted in schools and public places. • Civil Defense education programs conducted. • SANE established. • Arms race and space exploration supported.

10. Tippy teachs us the nuclear basics • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=211172294308374001

12. Some (In)famous Results of the Anti-Communist Activities of the Post-War Era: The Hollywood Ten (1947) • HUAC determined that Hollywood was full of communists • Fear of the power of the mass media to promote communist messages. • Many actors, directors and screenwriters testified and offered lists of communists. • Ten people went to jail rather than testify… Careers ruined • People who opposed the HUAC were harassed by the FBI

13. The Rosenberg Case: (1951) • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were physicists who had access to nuclear technology secrets. • U.S Court convicted the Rosenbergs of giving nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union • Many leftists saw America’s nuclear monopoly as undesirable. • Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were electrocuted in June 1953

14. Alger Hiss Spy Case (1948) • Alger Hiss- A State Department official accused of spying for communists. • Whittaker Chambers, former communist spy, testifies to HUAC that Hiss gave him government secrets. • Hiss accused Chambers of slander. • Chambers produced microfilmed government documents proving Hiss’ guilt • Hiss spends 5 years in jail

15. Some (In)famous Results of the Anti-Communist Activities of the Post-War Era: Joseph Mc Carthy • Army-McCarthy hearings • At the height of McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade, he attacked the US Army. • Army’s attorney Joseph Welch challenges McCarthy’s motives and methods. • Thirty-five days of televised hearings produce no evidence. • Beginning of the end of “McCarthyism”

16. SECTION 4 The Cold War at Home Question: What actions did the U.S. government take to limit communism, and how did these actions affect Americans’ everyday lives during the Cold War?

17. SECTION 4 Internal Security Act—required Communist Party members and organizations to register with the government and imposed controls on immigrants suspected of being Communist sympathizers Loyalty Review Board— investigation of more tan 20,000 federal employees, resignation of some 2,000 federal employees, and firing of some 300 others HUAC—investigation of peace organizations, liberal political groups, labor unions, the movie industry, and individuals accused of spying; resulted in blacklisting, hysteria, and scaring people away from unions and progressive groups The Cold War at Home GOVERNMENT ACTIONS TO LIMIT COMMUNISM, AND THE RESULTS created public hysteria about communist infiltration and led to the infringement of many Americans’ civil rights