6.3 Second Red Scare and McCarthyism

Learning Target 25: Explain how the Second Red Scare and McCarthyism reflected Cold War fears in American society.

The phrase “Red Scare” is used to describe periods of intense anti-communism in the U.S. (Communists were called Reds.) The First Red Scare occurred as a result of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and continued into the early 1920s. The Second Red Scare occurred during the Cold War. The Second Red Scare and McCarthyism reflected Cold War fears in American society.

As a result of the spread of communism to Eastern Europe and China and the Korean War, many Americans were concerned about the worldwide spread of communism and communist infiltration in the U.S. The Second Red Scare focused attention on the media, labor unions, universities and other organizations as targets of communist subversion.

Like the first Red Scare following World War I, civil liberties were again denied during the Second Red Scare. The investigations of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) led employers to blacklist suspected communists. One area HUAC investigated was the Hollywood movie industry. Many Hollywood actors and writers were accused of disloyalty to the U.S. and being sympathetic to communism. HUAC believed the Soviet Union should be portrayed as the enemy in films.

Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of the main anticommunist crusaders in the U.S. He played on fears of subversion with his charges of communists infiltrating the U.S. government. Most of McCarthy’s accusations were unfounded, but the reputations and careers of many were ruined. The McCarthy hearings and HUAC investigations held the attention of the American people through the middle 1950s.

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