A.P. U.S. History Students Are Hunting Communists!

Mrs. Knight’s AP U.S. History (APUSH) classes are currently learning about the Cold War. In order to bring a little fun into the time-consuming and challenging class, Mrs. Knight is having her students gather “evidence” to accuse their fellow classmates of being communists.

The activity is inspired by the practice of McCarthyism, named for former Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. He made a name for himself in the 1950s by accusing innocent people of being communists with little-to-no legitimate evidence. McCarthyism is defined as the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. This activity is very much a satire of the practice and some of the communist “giveaways” are purposely made to be more ridiculous that the actual ones that McCarthy used. That being said, the main concept remains the same and students are allowed to do anything that McCarthy would do.

Some of the “giveaways” include wearing red, talking to one’s locker, spending time in the library, sending text messages, wearing sneakers, participating in after-school activities, possessing potatoes, writing or passing notes, winking, high fives, and bringing a packed lunch. Each class also came up with a small list of their own unique giveaways to make the activity a little more fun.

Each APUSH student drew the name of a classmate and is expected to legally spy on that classmate and gather evidence of communist behavior. The students will then compile this “evidence” into a dossier and present their findings to the class. To support their dossier, students are expected to have three pieces of written evidence, two pictures, and two miscellaneous items. Just like McCarthy, however, they can forge the evidence.

This activity is a fun way for APUSH students to learn about American history and the concept of McCarthyism. The upcoming presentations are sure to be amusing.