How+did+fear+of+domestic+commmunism+affect+American+society+during+the+cold+war?

The Smith act was a law passed in 1940 created by the Truman administration. This law was a law against advocating violent overthrow of the government and also send 11 U.S. Communist Party members to prison. With the uprising scare of communism in the U.S. this was needed to maintain safety within the government. (President Truman) The House Commitee on Un-American Activites (HUAC) was a group set up that investigated subversive activities throughout American life, including academic insititutions, labor unions, and city halls. In 1947, HUAC, targeted a group called the Hollywood Ten. They were a group of suspected communists living in the U.S.. A blacklist was sent out later to accuse many writers and pruoducers suspected of having communist ties. these people were arrested and their careers ruined. This was a time of fearing communism and became known as the Red Scare. (Hollywood Ten)

(Alger Hiss(left) and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg(right)) Above are the pictures of the U.S. spies convicted of helping the Soviet union. Alger Hiss was a spy who was accused of stealing government documents to help the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs were a married couple of spies who were accused of passing nuclear information to the Soviets. These two trials for the three spies would increase the countries suspicion of communism in the U.S. and create growing concern. Alger Hiss was sent to prison for five years but the Rosenbergs were executed in 1953 over their controversial trial.

Jospeh R. McCarthy, a senator who said he had a list of the communists in the State Depatmant. He never actually had proof of the list but gained supporters. His vicoius style of wreckless charges was called McCarthyism. He went after whoever he thought he could accuse of being a communist. In 1954 McCarthy went after the U.S. military. But after being caught badgering witnesses and twisting the truth on televised events he lost his biggest supporters and began to decline. People no longer supported him or thought he knew any communists but with the ending of the Korean War and his downfall the signaling of the end of the Red Scare was over. (Joseph McCarthy, the man who said he knew the communists.)

__http://www.coldwar.org/__