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Cold War DBQ

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Effects of Cold War on United States domestic policy and society As World War II got closer to an end, the U.S. and the Soviet Union gained great power, and the competition with these two countries increased in many fields like the development of nuclear technology. However, at the same time, relationships between these two countries deteriorated especially due to the conflict of the ideology which is defined as the Cold War started in 1947 and ended 1991. Both domestic policy and society in the U.S. were greatly affected by the Cold War. However, the effect on American society was mostly negative as the conflicts of citizens due to fear of Communism and effect on normal life show. The Cold War, especially the arms race which promoted both …show more content…

In the beginning of the Cold War, President Truman signed an executive order to investigate all employment of the Federal Government(Document 1). Audience for this order was not only people who hire people for Federal Government jobs, but also citizens. Even though the United States officially tried to ban communism, the President suggested eliminating communist ideas from society which instilled fear of communism. HUAC established in 1938 also increased the fear of communism by investigating communist(Document 2). This picture shows that HUAC uses its power to accuse people and spread the fear of “being communist”. Even though the main purpose of publish this picture for the Washington Post was to criticize HUAC, it also engaged in the spread of Red Scare. Court case of Soviet spies Rosenbergs also affected American society by dividing people’s ideas(Document 5). For some, “execution of Rosenbergs was deserved punishment” and for others, “the Rosenbergs were scapegoats for Cold War anxieties.” Therefore, this trial case divides the community in half by revealing individual’s ideas about the Cold War. McCarthyism which makes accusations of treason without evidence can be related to all of these. McCarthyism spread social paranoia that all individuals could be treated as communist who were trying to betray the country. Therefore, McCarthyism also promoted the spread of Red Scare and divided American society. These events especially prove that the fear of communism due to the Cold War caused undesirable results for American

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