The Hysteria Of The Cold War

     The ruination and deaths of various people of the McCarthy trials and the Salem witchhunt are appalling. Multitudinous amounts of people are affected by these trials. Over 2,000 people are accused and fired by their government positions by the end of the McCarthy trials. During the Salem witchhunt, at least twenty people are hung and 150 others are jailed. The lives of these people, being changed after the trials had to rebuild a new life for themselves. People's careers are destroyed and property is taken away, as a result. The ruination and deaths of various people are a result of Joseph McCarthy's and the girls' unfounded accusations.

All of this information lead investigators to believe the two were guilty of these crimes. their trial was long and was explained in the chapter to seem suspicious. Later we find out that the right to appeal failed and after six years of continuously bring new evidence to the case and even connecting another suspect to the crime they were not given a second chance in jail. The two men were killed November 18, 1925 by the electric chair for their ideas and beliefs and not proven guilty of such crimes they were accused

In addition to limiting freedom of speech through the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Smith Act, Congress continued on a witch-hunt to remove all dissenters in any way they could, often charging and prosecuting individuals based on circumstantial evidence. This period, often referred to as the Second Red Scare, followed World War II and came as the United States entered the Cold War, was a time of much paranoia. One of the many cases during this period that showed how little evidence was used against individuals to incriminate them was the case of Annie Lee Moss. According to a F.B.I informant, Ms. Moss was a “card carrying, dues paying” member of the Communist party and was brought to testify before McCarthy’s committee, for she was “alleged to have examined and correct secret, encoded oversee messages.” (The McCarthy Years)

The United States involved itself in World War II to preserve democracy, but when Joseph Stalin made it his top priority to spread communism across Europe, the United States’ goal was endangered. As a result, in 1947, President Harry Truman created Executive Order 9835, which called for “a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government” (Document 1). Truman’s Executive Order exhibits a clear distrust of the protection of American ideals, as Truman would have never instituted this policy if he were not paranoid of the communistic plague. Truman’s paranoia was not only displayed by Executive Order 9835, but also emulated by the American people. Truman’s Doctrine spurred fear across the American public, most prominently showed in the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Rosenberg’s were unfairly tried and biasedly considered communists by the American government, ultimately resulting in execution. As seen by Elliot Erwitt’s photographs, the American public was enraged and feared communist ideals (Document

During the Cold War, America and the Soviet Union were competing to develop more sophisticated weaponry than each other. Because of this, Americans dreaded the Soviet Union. They also feared communism– which according to Achieve 3000’s passage,“Case Against Rosenberg Falls Apart”,“It is the political theory that the Soviet’s lived by” (1). Also according to Achieve 3000, “The Americans thought that the Soviet Union had spies that were in the midst of the American people” (1). This fear lead to many precautions that the government made to prevent the American people from fearing the Soviet Union which was called the “Red Scare”.

During the time of the Red Scare lives were destroyed from all of accusations made. The people that were wrongfully accused had families and then got destroyed reputations. From the Cold War Museum it stated that “the nation grew to realize that McCarthy was evil and unmatched in malice.” once they found that McCarthy was not to be trusted, everyone knew that the people McCarthy told were communist were not

This not only applied to America, but also to other countries such as France and Italy. To aid against the Soviet Unions growing Communist power over such countries, America enacted Cold War liberalism in an attempt to contain the forces within Russia. It was further helped through the Mutual Security Act, which provided countries with grants that would help them combat Communist takeover. In addition, it is shown through the audience of Doc 2 how public speeches on the subject of Communism affected the public by riling them up to points of violence. The speeches by Joseph McCarthy, the most prominent Red Scare speaker, created a popular practice called McCarthyism. In this, people would make accusations against others about supposed Communist ties without any substantial evidence. The most drastic case that resulted from McCarthyism was the Rosenberg’s, who were executed for their supposed ties with Communist

Martin Niemöller once said,“First they came for the communists, but I was not a communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.” The culture of accusations is a part of hysteria. As paranoia ensued in “The Crucible”, Joseph McCarthy made false allegations that influenced many peoples lives. An affair integrated in Arthur Miller’s play created controversy among the community. Trials were held for those accused and lying was the only way to survive. The harsh truth that was revealed in “The Crucible” and the parallels between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials show patterns in which fear was used as an advantage, unsubstantiated claims occurred, and unethical punishments were given.

During the 1950s there was a rise in the fear of communism called “The Red Scare”. Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of the many people who contributed to people’s fear by making a list of people who he said were communists even though there was no proof in most cases. In an article by Alan Brinkley called “The 1950s Part One: McCarthy and The Red Scare”, it informs, “McCarthy was only one of many who helped create the great fear. The Red Scare was visible in almost every area of American life” (Brinkley). This quote tell us that in the 1950s even though Senator Joseph McCarthy was a huge contributor to The Red Scare. His list of suspected communists made rumors spread and the people on the list get questioned and even go to jail when in some cases they were innocent. It also says in the article by USHistory.org called “McCarthyism: Witch Hunting and Blacklisting in America”, that, “In the 1950s anyone who was considered a communist could be questioned and thrown in jail” (USHistory.org). Which means that his allegations could have easily put people in prison.

McCarthyism was a time of political hysteria and a figurative witch-hunt that swept through the American society during the 1950s when Anti- Communist figures like Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un- American Activities stalked the land- McCarthyism. McCarthyism is when accusations of treason are made without any prior or proper evidence. Joseph McCarthy was a Republican from Wisconsin, and he was elected to Senate in 1946. He officially rose in power when he made a speech accusing 205 people of being communist and infiltrating the US government. Conservatives in the United States began to fear that anyone with any affiliation with the Communist Party or Russia was a threat to the nation. McCarthy was able to use the fear of others as his advantage. McCarthyism finally reached its peak when 36 televised interviews took place to investigate espionage. Many in turn suffered unemployment or imprisonment. Later, many of these verdicts were overturned and labeled as unconstitutional and illegal. In both the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts, the trial of Bertram Cates in Hillsboro, Tennessee, and the McCarthy Era, corrupt people used the fear of others for of reasons of hatred, similar to Senator McCarthy. These power hungry people pick a convenient scapegoats as a way of improving what they believe to be right and abandoning all reason in the face of fear. However, The Crucible, serves as a more lasting response to the McCarthyism trials and its modern day

As America entered the post-war era after World War II, there was still an ongoing sense of paranoia throughout the country. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, McCarthyism, initiated by Joseph McCarthy’s accusation of 205 Communists and the use of unjust methods to hunt Communists, arose. As this era emerged, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, which highlighted and dramaticized the scandal of the 1692 Salem witch trials, gained popularity and opened on Broadway. Though the two events in American history, McCarthyism and the witch trials, lie almost 300 years apart, Miller’s The Crucible serves as an allegory to the closely mirrors the events of McCarthyism, specifically in the request of the names of those accused, the absence of reliable

were selling the secrets of nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union. They arrested many people including Klaus Fuchs who was a member of the Manhattan Project and who was selling information about the atomic bomb to Moscow. McCarthy and Hoover "began a massive witch-hunt," which led to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. (Moss,220-222)

A series of high profile spy scandals, like that of Alger Hiss, were reported in the press. It also became clear that the USSR's rapid progress in mastering atomic energy had been aided by information gathered by spies from the US nuclear program. Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, grabbed the headlines by declaring in early 1950 that the Truman administration was infiltrated by Communist agents and sympathisers. A modern-day witch-hunt broke out, with widespread panic ensuing. Anti-communist feeling intensified and many people, especially the Republican opposition, claimed that the government was not being tough enough on Communism,

During the early years of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and communist spies attempted to steal atomic secrets from the United States Of America; however, only years earlier, the Soviet Union was Americas wartime ally. In 1943, prominent political figures such as General Douglas MacArthur and Winston Churchill praised the Soviet Union for their heroic efforts against Nazi forces and Hollywood was producing films such ‘Mission to Moscow’ and ‘Song of Russia’ that depicted a utopian way of life in Russia. This positivity lead to Julius Rosenberg becoming a member of New York City College’s Young Communist league at the young age of sixteen. It was through this that he later met Ethel; this communist league became a large factor of the Rosenberg's life for the next eleven years. However, in 1943, three years after commencing his new job as a civilian employee of the U. S. Army Signal Corps, Julius Rosenberg dropped out of the communist league.

Despite its name, the Cold War did not actually involve military fighting between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the Cold War is still an excellent example as to why war can be a result of bargaining failures and explains reasons as to why war occurs. A single person’s rationality can tip the scale between war and peace. The Cold War was essentially a deadlock between the two super powers of that time, the United States and the Soviet Union. Both states expressed desire to maintain and widen their respective spheres of influence around the world. Both states also wanted to prove that their political system is superior; whereas the United States was pro-democracy, the Soviet Union was pro-communism. Although the Cold War was a result of many factor, war can definitely occur due to information problems between two states. Nonetheless, I do believe there is always a range of agreements that is possible between states, as is evidenced by the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis.