Second Red Scare

The Second Red Scare, which occurred during 1947-1957 in the US, was caused by the fear of the growing communist power in other countries, particularly the Soviet Union and China. Some events that significantly contributed to this fear were the Rosenberg trial and the "Iron Curtain". This was also a response to the Communist Party growing in numbers and influence, as a result of capitalism’s crisis during the Great Depression.

The "Iron Curtain" was a non-physical boundary that divided the Soviet Union from the West and other Allied Powers. The Iron Curtain denied the Soviets freedom of speech, political freedom and restricted the freedom to leave their country at will. This separation from the West also allowed the Soviet Union to further develop its nuclear capabilities. The US was terrified of a nuclear war with the Soviets and was nervous that Soviet espionage was employed within the government, and numerous soviet agents had indeed infiltrated the U.S. government during World War II.

This resulted in the government establishing a multitude of defenses against Soviet espionage.  In 1947, President Truman issued the Loyalty Order, which required all federal employees to be analyzed to determine whether they were truly faithful to the government and were also required to take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. government. Additionally, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created in the House of Representatives to investigate suspected communist infiltrators.  With capitalism’s crisis during the Great Depression, the Communist Party grew in numbers and influence, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program expanded the federal government’s role in providing economic security.

Ironically, Hoover, the director of the FBI, and his investigators used espionage tactics of their own to locate potential communists, such as wiretaps, surveillance, and infiltrating leftist organizations. Their efficient collection of evidence proved Julius and Ethel Rosenberg guilty in the Rosenberg trial, in which a couple was accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. They were both communist and Julius was a key Soviet spy who passed along information to the Soviet Union and recruited Manhattan Project spies.

The government's hunt for communist sympathizers during the Second Red Scare can be compared to the Salem Witch Trials. Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator, fed the increasing panic and used unfounded rumors and intimidation to gain notoriety. The key congressional investigation committees included McCarthy’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. With this newfound fame, McCarthy denounced numerous public figures as being communist supporters which included government officials, celebrities, and intellectuals. Through a speech in February 1950, he presented a list of alleged members of the Communist Party working in the State Department and this attracted a lot of attention from the press. Most of the accused were innocent, but most lost their reputation and their jobs. This fear of unemployment spread into the labor unions and universities and was a powerful tool for stifling the growth of communism and criticism of the status quo. Through the mass persecution of innocents during this time, we can see a clear parallel between the Scare and the Witch Trials.

The fear of communism also affected the state governments. For example, between 1951 and 1954, an Un-American Activities Committee was created and run in Ohio, headed by House member Samuel Devine. The Committee questioned multiple Ohioans, asking each person, "Right now, are you an active member of the Communist Party?" Every person that the questioned refused to answer, citing the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and most of the accused were college students who had advocated communist programs to end the Great Depression in the 1930s. Various grand juries eventually indicted all of the people, and many were convicted for supporting communism. 

By the mid-1950s, these civil rights violations had convinced many Americans to condemn the actions of the state and federal governments, but many Americans would continue to fear communism through out history and even now.

Sources:
https://owlcation.com/misc/What-Life-Was-Like-Behind-The-Iron-Curtain-A-Review-of-The-Book-The-Girl-Behind-The-Wall
https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/age-of-eisenhower/mcarthyism-red-scare
https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-6