The Cold War at Home11.9.3 Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and

domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy

EQ : How did fear of domestic communism affect American society during the Cold War?

1

Ideological Origins- A Conflict of Systems

United StatesEconomic system: (mostly) laissez-faire capitalismPolitical system:Democratic electionsSocial system:Religious, legal equality stressed

Soviet UnionEconomic system:Marxist socialist government orderPolitical system:Controlled by communist partySocial system: atheistic, economic equality stressed

Why would people living in one of these nations distrust the other?

2

Growing Fear

• Americans believed communism was expansionist and would not rest until the whole world was communist as well Why did this prospect frighten

Americans? Is there a similar fear today? 3

Less than 4 years after Hiroshima, the Soviet Union was able to create an Atomic Bomb. Americans now had to face an enemy with the same power they had. 4

The Second Red Scare

• House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), 1949• feared foreign agents

were working to subvert America

• helped build career of Richard M. Nixon of CA

• Alger Hiss (State Dept.) tried twice for espionage and imprisoned for perjury

• claimed he was innocent until he died in 1996

Why did Americans think Soviet spies had infiltrated their government?

5

Truman and The Second Red Scare

• Truman created a Loyalty Review Board in 1947

• loyalty oath and background check on people in anti-democratic groups that advocated violence• communist groups and unions• 3 million employees investigated—

3,000 resigned/fired• in 1950, Congress gave Truman the

authority to detain “suspicious people”• Truman vetoed it• McCarran Internal Security Act, 1950

• Smith Act, 1940• illegal to advocate, teach, or

support violence in overthrowing the government

• this meant communism and the Supreme Court back it up 6

Terrific Thursday, March 26

• Take your seat• Take out your notebook• Open to your notes “The Cold War at Home”• Reading quiz cancelled – happy Easter

Precious Time – 5-10 minutes

• Add in Cornell questions• Highlight important information• If you finish with these notes work on anything

else you need to in your notebook. 7

Today’s Agenda

• Precious Time (10 minutes)

• Wrap-Up FN: The Cold War at Home (10 min total (3 for group discussions 7 for class)

• Discs the following questions using your notes and books:

• What was the Hollywood 10?• Why was McCarthy important?• Who were the Rosenberg's? what were they accused of?

• Dot Game / Debrief (30-35 minutes set up, play and debrief)

• Homework:• Study Guide questions 1-10• Finish debrief question (due at end of period for periods 5

and 6) 8

The Second Red Scare - Blacklisting

• HUAC investigated communism in Hollywood unions

• “Hollywood Ten” refused to testify and were banned from working

• over 300 directors/actors denied employment

• some turned in names of potential communists

• Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, Elia Kazan (1999)

Charlie Chaplin Harry BelafonteLloyd Bridges Arthur MillerZero Mostel Orson Welles

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Hollywood Ten

• Alvah Bessie • Herbert J. Biberman • Lester Cole • Edward Dmytryk • Ring Lardner, Jr. • John Howard Lawson • Albert Maltz • Samuel Ornitz • Adrian Scott • Dalton Trumbo

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McCarthy - Big Brother is watching 11

The Second Red Scare - McCarthyism

• Joseph McCarthy• Wisconsin senator held up

a “list” of 250 employees of State Dept. who were communists

• it was a blank piece of paper• claimed that Truman was doing

little or nothing to stop it• became one of the most

powerful men in Washington

• set off 2nd red scare, until 1954 when McCarthy became unpopular

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Spies and The Second Red Scare

• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg• Americans feared espionage led

to rapid Soviet development of A-Bomb

• US developed A-Bomb in 1945 • Soviets get A-Bomb in 1949• US developed H-Bomb in 1952 • Soviets get H-Bomb in 1953

• executed Rosenbergs for espionage/treason

• Julius definitely involved in espionage, not sure about Ethel

• It took 5 electric shocks to kill Ethel

• This was the only execution of civilians for espionage in US

13

The Second Red Scare & the CIA

• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 1947• conducts secret

operations outside the US•assassination

attempts

• intelligence gathering (espionage)

14

Dot Game

1. Students pick a small piece of paper from a plastic bag. Some of the pieces of paper have a red dot on them while most of the pieces are blank. Students are not to reveal what is on their piece of paper to anyone else.

2. The object of the “game” is for the students to create the largest group possible without any red dots. They may question each other as they form groups, but they must not show their paper. The largest group without a member with a red dot wins. Any person who holds a red dot and has infiltrated a group wins.

3. The purpose of the “game” is for the students to experience some of the suspicions associated with the McCarthy Era.

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McCarthy - Big Brother is watching 16

How did it make you feel

• How did the game make you feel?• What was the purpose of the game?• Where you accused of being a dot?• Who was excluded from a group

because they were thought to be a dot?

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Debrief Discussion

• Who was McCarthy and for what is he remembered? • What motivated McCarthy? • What groups of people did McCarthy find suspicious? • What impact did McCarthy’s allegations have on

those accused? • Some objected to McCarthy’s lists and

investigations. Why?

• What impact did McCarthy have on America? How was this game an example of his impact?• Answer this question (5+ sentences) on a separate piece of

paper – label it Dot Game Debrief18