Red Scare: The Era Of Mass Hysteria

The Red Scare Analysis 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.

To what extent did the Red Scare influence American society during the early stage of the cold war?

The most significant takeaway that I have from this course would be learning information regarding John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Now, the reasoning behind this is because these two men without a doubt influence the nation more than anyone else during their era and beyond. Furthermore, when looking at each one of these company’s net worth, they easily rival several nations gross domestic profit during this period. Additionally, their businesses employ more people across the country than any other companies of this time. Moreover, once these men reach the pinnacle of the corporate world, each one decides it is time to start giving back to their fellow man. Now, I found this baffling considering everyone at the time sees Rockefeller and Carnegie as robber barons. Additionally, when comparing Rockefeller’s and Carnegie’s philanthropy actions to today’s modern market, you do not see business owners contributing to society to the same magnitude as Rockefeller and Carnegie.

The difference between the Red Scare in the 1940’s and the 1920’s, you had the Red Scare of 1940’s all about the characteristic of the affluent society when the people were in constant fear. Fear of nuclear bombs, nuclear weapons, fear of spies and politicians who were taking advantage of that fear. There was that constant fear of infiltration and espionage from the communists that made everyone always on the edge. You had working class people moving up to middle class, becoming all about materialistic things. Going up economically began to change the people in the society. They were scared they were going to lose it all and specific politicians who were considered demigods. This Red Scare was much more bigger than the first one was originally.

Today, in the world there are so many different types of societies that unite for numerous reasons. They can either be big or small, but no matter what, a society is a society that stays united. However, one of the many things that can destroy millions of a united group in a matter of seconds is the compelling emotion also known as, fear. People who are power hungry individuals, see fear as an easy and beneficial tactic to gain power. In both the Crucible by Arthur Miller and the Red Scare, it is clearly evident that fear does not unite but rather splits both of these societies. Considering that witchcraft and communism were unsuitable practices during these times, it caused people to go insane because of the growing hysteria and accusations

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.

In the 1940 's and 1950 's, an anti-Communist movement swept the United States of America. Fueled by the anti-Communist actions of Congress, particularly a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy, the movement escalated and many people lost their jobs as a result of various blacklists. Congressional hearings, both in front of HUAC and McCarthy Senate committee were a study in organized persecution. The actions taken during the "Red Scare" were eventually given the general name McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

This kind of hysteria caused the Red Scare, which was a period that Americans thought communists were working to destroy America. This mass fear of communism ruined people’s lives and made them turn against their own family and friends. Joseph McCarthy played an

The Red Scare started right after the civil war was over. There had been many riots to accrue during the time of the red scare. In the term the red scare had been a form of lose to many successful people. It took at huge toll on the government as they tried to stop and contain the many job losses, but as the time went by people start to riot in the streets because the of the cuts from their jobs had really affected them. People were losing their lives and the government did all they could to try and stop it. Some people even moved to another state to try and find another job to provide for their families. The Red Scare was the worst time of the nineteenth century it was all about racism and the political views on the economy.

Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.

The Cold War caused people to question the United States’ government’s reliability and strength, which negatively affected America’s domestic affairs and foreign policies. Citizens lost respect and trust in the government and other civilians, due to several threats within the country and worldwide. People were left questioning their rights and safety due to the second Red Scare, which threatened the coming of power of communism within America. Various forms of propaganda advertised fears, causing panic to spread throughout the country. Russia’s gain of power throughout Eurasia showed off the USSR’s strength and abilities, threatening the Western Powers.

“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and The Red Scare share many characteristics. “The Crucible” describes the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were during a period of time where men and women were very rancorous so others feared to speak up because they would be accused of witchcraft and killed. Similar to Arthur Miller’s book, the Red Scare was a period of time in the late 40’s and 50’s in which United States citizens were intensely paranoid of an opposing threat of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia and ultimately communists infiltrating the United States. What the Red Scare and “The Crucible” have in common is that accusations of witchcraft or communism were false, people were blind to the truth, and the accusers weren’t very tactful and

Ultimately, a very similar occurrence took placed in the mid-1900s, known as the Second Red Scare. Citizens of the United States were intensely scrutinized to find the roots of communism, occasionally coercing deep, long-held secrets pertaining to the communist influence. Ultimately, history repeated itself in the 1900s upon the occurrence of the Second Red Scare, once again demonstrated mass hysteria characterizing the Salem Witch

The Red Scare was a fear of communism, this was instilled in americans because of the Cold War. McCarthyism is pertaining to Joseph McCarthy, a man that instigated this fear. It was considered to be the practice of making the problem of communism seem smaller by putting down and accusing people of being communist.

By establishing the Truman Doctrine, his main goal was to keep other nations who were resisting Communism to be able to stand up for themselves. Since the Soviet Union was in the midst of all Communist activity, Truman knew that Stalin would eventually spread his beliefs into other parts of the world. Fearing that he would lose yet another nation to Stalin, Truman quickly decided that he had to do something to help other countries who were in need of political and monetary aid. As a result, the Truman Doctrine was first created when Truman stood before Congress on March 12, 1947, and asked for $400 million to fight Communist aggression in Greece and Turkey. When Congress approved Truman’s request, he was able to send political, military, and economic assistance to Greece and other democratic nations that were under threat from Stalin (history.state.gov).