DBQ Essay: The Cold War

McCarthyism turned Americans against each other after WWII by claiming that Communists had infiltrated many areas of American life and government. In fact, “According to a local newspaper McCarthy dropped a bombshell: ‘The State Department is infested with Communists,” (para 3). In other words, this is the beginning of McCarthy turning Americans against each other. Paranoia started to spread through America which all this strongly affected Americans everyday life. McCarthyism was a result of American fear of communism in the 1950s. According to the article A Decade of Fear by Sam Roberts it states, “As his fame and power grew, so did his anti-Communist fervor. He accused government officials and politicians who opposed him,” (para 11). Sam

foreign and domestic policies because it scared Americans and caused tension within the country and worldwide, leading to a lack of trust within the country. The second Red Scare, propaganda, Russian growth in power, nuclear tension, and the Hollywood Ten were all parts of the war that damaged American policies. Civilians lost trust between one another and within the government. Communism intimidated many people, and the Cold War made it appear as though it would soon take over the world. However, Truman and Eisenhower made it evident that the United States was fighting for innocent civilians worldwide, but they could not promise a steady government or country while the tension exists with Russia, but the nation is doing what they must(Document C). Therefore, the Cold War spread fear which led to the United States being negatively impacted in domestic and foreign

Shortly after the beginning of the Red Scare, a phenomenon which is known as McCarthyism appeared and shaped American politics. The anti-communist movement reached its peak in February 1950, when Senator Joseph McCarthy capitalised the fear by claiming he had a list of more than 200 communists working inside the American government. Although McCarthy never proved his proclaims by any credible evidence, the event resulted in large-scale of investigation towards communists and communist sympathiser within the US government which was led to massive amount of resignations. However, a significant number of suspects were just liberal democrats and left-leaning figures. Also, conservative political value became more popular as it was strongly opposed to communist ideology. To

The Vietnam War divided the United States into two separate categories: Hawks and Doves. Supporters of the war were known as Hawks, while pacifists were known as Doves. The Hawks believed the aggression North Vietnam displayed forced the United States into war, whereas Doves felt the civil war in Vietnam was not the United States responsibility and it was causing unnecessary costs and deaths.

During the Cold War, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was possibly the most dangerous moment between the United States and the Soviet Union. The discovery of nuclear weapons being installed in Cuba was from the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane who passed over Cuba and had photographed nuclear weapons being installed, which led to more tension between the two sides (History.com Staff 2010). The Cuban Missile Crisis was an important historical event that should be kept in the new textbooks in order for students to learn about how it affected America because politically, this was when the US and the Soviet Union came closest to nuclear conflict during the Cold War which could have started WWIII, environmentally, it led to the creation on the

he first chapter of The Cold War: A New History begins by comparing the United States to the U.S.S.R. and talking about the similarities between the two. It also talks about Communism and how Marx deemed it necessary in order to build up the economy. Lenin tried to implement Communism in Russia. They were not quite ready for that kind of system, so Stalin tried to modernize the economy. The U.S.S.R. had more casualties in World War II, but things were not necessarily looking great in America either. U.S. citizens were afraid that the Great Depression could return. Many Americans were tired of helping out other nations and just wanted the war to be over completely. John Lewis Gaddis, the author of The Cold War: A New History, is talking about the fact that just because the war was over, Americans were not necessarily at peace. There were many different economic and social factors that the United States had to deal with in the post World War II years.

During the rise of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had been brought into an alliance due to both of their desires to defeat Nazi, Germany. Although the Soviet Union’s aggressive, antidemocratic policy towards Europe created tensions even before World War II had ended. That being said, they tolerated each other as much as they could but weren’t exactly friends. The United States government was initially hostile to the Soviet leaders for their decision to take Russia out of World War I and was opposed to a state ideologically based on communism. The main conflict between them was their inability to agree about communism. Over the next five years the relationship between the two countries’ changed

With anti-communism being the dominant political issue during the Cold War, hysteria and paranoia spread throughout the minds of Americans. The “Enemies From Within Speech” delivered at Wheeling, West Virginia in 1950 by Senator Joseph McCarthy focused on worsening that national fear. Senator McCarthy used ethos, metaphor, and hyperbole to create the notion of disloyalty within the federal government.

Sam Robert in the article, A Decade of Fear, argues that Americans turned against each other because of McCarthyism. Robert supports his claim by explaining, contrasting, and demonstrating the effects that McCarthyism had on humanity. The author’s purpose is to persuade in order to convince the reader that McCarthyism sparked betrayal and fear among Americans. The author writes in a tone for his educated audience. I strongly agree with Robert’s claim. McCarthyism resulted in Americans turning against each other because of politicians greed for power, paranoia, and the fear of communist infiltration.

Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare. People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.

Containment also provided supplies and defended democracy in an area of adverse communist influence peacefully. Finally, containment helped the world dodge a full-scale nuclear world war and gave Russia a taste of its own blockade-flavoured medicine in the Cuban Missile Crisis. If George Kennan’s Long Telegram (discussed in Document A) had not been published, the US and democracy itself may have been oblivious to the Soviet Agenda. Kennan stated in Document A : “1. Stalin and the Soviets believe that communism is better than capitalism. 2. Stalin and the Soviets believe they will win.” By knowing the Soviets’ true intentions to be in perpetual war with capitalism until it would be eradicated, the US and its democratic allies could contain

Ray Bradbury, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is one of the most notable authors of the 20th century. Although he wrote over 30 novels and countless of other writings, his novel, Fahrenheit 451, is his claim to fame. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about a faux utopia without books. His novel is a critical thinking piece that criticizing censorship. Ray Bradbury’s cultural significance stems from his audacious nerve to simply release his novel.

Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin believed communism was the most daunting threat to the American government at the time. Moreover, most Americans had only heard of communism, but were generally unaware of the topic until McCarthy preached his opinions. After his speech to the Republican National Convention in 1952, American citizens suddenly felt a responsibility to rid the country of communists. Although the thought of communism did not pose a danger to the average American, McCarthy’s rampant speeches made unknowing citizens feel a sense of urgency toward the topic. One reason Americans heard little of communism is because the government did not want them to know. For example, McCarthy’s speech sparked an anger in Americans for being lied to for so long, causing them to draw their own conclusions. After all, Miller describes similar occurrence in his play. In The Crucible, the townspeople are oblivious to what is causing a disturbance in their village. Consequently, they decide it must be witches becas they themselves are unaware of any other possibility. One woman, Mrs. Putnam provides, “I’d nott call it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick” (Miller). Similar to themes in The Crucible, Americans did not understand the magnitude of the issue and felt they had to become overly enthusiastic about it. As a result, an outbreak of Americans turning on one another during the McCarthy

During this time period, not long after the end of World War II, the USSR (Soviet Union) was on the rise, which led to the Cold War. The Cold War led to increased tension between the United States, and the Soviet Union due to competition and heavy conflict of interest. The involvement of the Soviet Union led to the dramatic fear of communism among the public after witnessing the horrific environment within the USSR. This helped develop McCarthyism, the idea of investigating, and accusing someone in power of being associated with communism. Joe McCarthy himself, the founder of his very ideal also gained much popularity within this time period due to many Americans fearing the rise of communist leaders and communism itself. He maintained support throughout all this time because there was no one that would go against him or his ideals. McCarthy was easily able to gain

American society was very willing to go along with the Red Hunt of the 1950’s that was led by the HUAC and Joe McCarthy. The American people knew that the main idea and goal of communism was to spread communism. Communism had already spread into North Korea after the USSR took control and the last thing American society wanted was further spreading. The House Un-American Activities Committee persecuted famous Hollywood stars for suspected communist activities. The American people looked up to these actors and actresses and the idea that their beloved Hollywood personalities could be communist opened up the idea that anyone could be a communist. Once the American people saw one possible communist, the civilians thought they saw communists everywhere.