Red Scare Essay

 

The Red Scare

 

The Red Scare was a phenomenon that occurred in the United States during the 1920s and Cold War in which citizens heavily feared communism and its ideas. The first Red Scare appeared in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution at the time, only from 1919 to 1921. The Red Scare reemerged during the Cold War when Senator Joseph McCarthy made claims that communists were among the government and the common people of the United States. At the time of McCarthy’s claims, some citizens were already afraid of the ideas of communism and feared a takeover of their country by communists. These fears increased immensely when communist forces took over China, and the Korean War started. The Red Scare isolated thousands of innocent citizens from their families, lose their jobs, and ruined their reputation entirely; both normal citizens and famous figures were accused of being communists or helping communists.  The Red Scare effected the United States’ government and political parties as many members from these groups were often searched and suspected of being communists.

 The hysteria of the Red Scare was partly caused by Senator Joseph McCarthy and FBI director J. Edgar Hooker besides massive manhunts in the government. McCarthy and E. Hooker was leading anti-communists during the 1940s to late 1950s, gaining fame from driving the United States into fear of corruption in the United States by communists and respected public celebrities could be communists. Anyone who tried to opposed the ideas of McCarthy and Hooker was accused of being a communist and had their reputation ruined. McCarthy and Hooker’s claims caused organizations such as the FBI and the HUAC to do searches within the government and political groups for possible communists. The government during the Red Scare created the Loyalty program that led to many people wrongfully accused unable to prove they were not communists. The Loyalty program made by the government to remove the threat of communists within the government which required all new members for the FBI and the government at the time to have their records checked. This program removed some civil rights of people accused of being spies for the Soviet Union and therefore made it nearly impossible for those people to prove their innocence.

 The Red Scared ended in the late 1950s after McCarthy’s claims was proven false and only tools in intimidation by the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. Thousands of citizens watched the trial on their television at the time and was surprised by McCarthy’s deception. After the hearing McCarthy tried for the last time to accuse his rivals, but he failed. By June, the senator lost all his credibility and thus the Red Scare began to fade. While the Red Scare ended, citizens remain to fear communism within the United States until the years after end of the Cold War.