1950 Dbq Analysis

In the 1950’s the cold war had begun. The fear of retaliation from communists was at large. Some Americans believed that communists were amongst them plotting. This lead to a dark time in history when American opportunity became limited for many. Most rights were limited, normal life was disrupted, and the most necessary human right may have been taken. All of these restrictions limited the American opportunity making it an age of fear and oppression rather than an age of opportunity. The Bill of Rights was designed to protect American citizens and allow them to keep their basic rights. During the Red Scare some rights were overturned. In fear the government began to restrict freedoms in order to keep the nation safe. The first amendment was limited with the Smith Act. The Smith Act prohibited the talk of violent overthrow of the United States government (Document D). This called to question whether the first amendment allowed for radical political speech the Supreme Court at the time ruled the law was justified though now a days it is considered a clear violation of freedom of speech. Later things worsened and people began to “ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism—the right to criticize; the

There were many political cartoons created due to McCarthyism. In one political cartoon the committee on un-american activities is driving a car directly through a busy city causing people to dive left and right to get out of the way. The caption of this drawing is “It’s okay --- we’re hunting communists” (Document A). This political cartoon is accurate life during the Red Scare became chaotic. Everyone was scared of being accused as shown with the look of terror on the women in the right corner. Most of daily life was disrupted blacklists were formed against those accused of communism even if the accusation was false. This was not the land of opportunity that America once