The Red Scare (1950s)

For each term or name, write a concise sentence or two explaining its significance.

1. HUAC
The HUAC was a committee that believed that communists were sneaking propaganda into films. The committee pointed to the pro soviet films made during wwii when the soviet union had been a united states ally.


2. Blacklist
This meant that they were named as unfit to hire.

3. Alger Hiss
was accused of spying for the soviet union. He was accused of having microfilm on his typewriter. He was not pressed with charges.


4. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
were minor activists in the american communist party. They hgad been asked if that had been communists but they denied it. they pleaded the firth amendment and that choose to not incriminate themselves. they had claijmed that they were being persecuted both for being jewissh and for holding radical beliefes. they were both sentences to death.

5. Joseph McCarthy was a famous anti-communist activist and a republican from Wisconsin. For his first couple years in senate his reputation had been ineffective legislateor. he wanted to be reelected in 1952 so he had a issue that communists were taking over the government.


6. McCarthyism-these were attacks on suspected communists in the early 1950's. Since this time, it has referred to the unfair tactics of accusing p-eo-ple of disloyalty without providing evidence.


7. In a paragraph, describe the motivations and actions of Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s. What prompted his actions? What did he do? What happened as a result of his actions?

In the 1950's Joseph McCarthy was a famous anti-communist. He was a republican from wisconsin and his reputation in congress started going down as legislator. He realized that he was going to need a ewinning issue in order to become reelected in 1952 so he thought of the idea of saying that communism was taking over the government. As a result of his actions there was now known the McCarthyism. This was made because McCarthy was taking advantage of peoples concers about communis. and he was attacking the communism and suspecting that they were communists. He was very unfair. He charged the Democratic Party and the republican party did little to stop it. Dinally McCarthy made accusations aginst the US army which resulted in a nationally televised Senate investigation. His wrong decisions cost him his public support. Later on his life he had died from alcoholism.