1917-1920: FIRST RED SCARE The First Red Scare begins during
World War I. The Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the ensuing
Russian Civil War inspire a widespread campaign of violence in the
U.S. by various anti- government groups. It effectively ends when
A. Mitchell Palmer says that there is going to be a massive
communist uprising on May Day of 1920, but no such uprising comes
about.
Slide 3
1938: HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE (HUAC) The House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), established in 1938, is
the most prominent and active government committee involved in
anti- Communist investigations. HUAC investigates a variety of
activities, including those of German- American Nazis during World
War II. The Committee soon focuses on Communism, beginning with an
investigation into Communists in the Federal Theatre Project in
1938.
Slide 4
1942: THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES (CPUSA) The
CPUSA, in existence for decades and reaching a peak of 50,000
members in 1942, is now viewed as a threat to U.S. national
security.
Slide 5
1945: CHINA FALLS TO THE COMMUNISTS Mao Zedongs Communist army
gains control of mainland China despite heavy financial support of
the opposing Kuomintang by the U.S.
Slide 6
1945+: POST-WORLD WAR II DISTRUST OF THE SOVIET UNION With the
end of World War II, the Cold War begins almost immediately, as the
Soviet Union installs repressive Communist puppet rgimes across
Central and Eastern Europe.
Slide 7
MARCH 21, 1947: EXECUTIVE ORDER 9835 (THE LOYALTY ORDER) The
Truman administration bars Communists or people associated with
Communists from government jobs. The order establishes a wide area
for the departmental loyalty boards to conduct loyalty screenings
of federal employees and job applicants. It allows the United
States Federal Bureau of Investigation to run initial name checks
on federal employees, and authorizes further field investigation if
the initial inquiry uncovers derogatory information.
Slide 8
OCTOBER 1947: THE HOLLYWOOD TEN HUAC begins to subpoena
screenwriters, directors, and other movie industry professionals to
testify about their known or suspected membership in the Communist
Party, association with its members, or support of its beliefs. It
is at these testimonies that what becomes known as the $64 question
is asked: Are you now or have you ever been a member of the
Communist Party of the United States? Among the first film industry
witnesses subpoenaed by the Committee are ten who decide not to
cooperate. These men, who become known as the Hollywood Ten cite
the First Amendments guarantee of free speech and free assembly,
which they believe legally protects them from being required to
answer the Committees questions. This tactic fails, and the ten are
sentenced to prison for contempt of Congress.
Slide 9
NOVEMBER 25, 1947: THE WALDORF STATEMENT This statement
announces the firing of the Hollywood Ten and states: We will not
knowingly employ a Communist or a member of any party or group
which advocates the overthrow of the government of the United
States[] This open capitulation to the attitudes of McCarthyism
marks the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist. In spite of the
fact that hundreds are denied employment, the studios, producers
and other employers do not publicly admit that a blacklist
exists.
Slide 10
1949: JOE I The first Soviet atomic test is First Lightning ( )
August 29, 1949, and is code- named by the Americans as Joe 1. It
is a replica of the American Fat Man bomb, whose design the Soviets
know from espionage.
Slide 11
1949: ALGER HISS In January, Alger Hiss, a high-level State
Department official, is convicted of perjury. Hiss is in effect
found guilty of espionage; the statute of limitations has run out
for that crime, but he is convicted of having perjured himself when
he denies that charge in earlier testimony before the House
Committee on Un-American Activities.
Slide 12
1949: LOYALTY OATH The University of California starts
requiring all employees to sign an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
Many faculty and staff object to the oath, calling it a political
test as a condition of employment.
Slide 13
1950: KOREAN WAR The Korean War pits U.S., U.N. and South
Korean forces against Communists from North Korea and China.
Slide 14
1950: THE ROSENBERGS Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are charged
with conspiracy to commit espionage (they allegedly sold secrets
about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union). They plead not guilty.
The Rosenbergs are convicted of spying, sentenced to death, and
then executed in 1953.
Slide 15
FEBRUARY 9, 1950: SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHYS RISE TO FAME Senator
Joseph McCarthy announces in a speech that he has a list of 205
Communists in the U.S. Department of State.
Slide 16
1950-1954: MCCARTHYS ATTACKS Senator McCarthys fame following
these allegations (which are never proven) allows him to publically
attack various government agencies, including the U.S. Army. He
also accuses high-level government officials of being
Communists.
Slide 17
MARCH 29, 1950: MCCARTHYISM The first recorded use of the term
McCarthyism is in a March 29, 1950 political cartoon by Washington
Post editorial cartoonist Herbert Block. The cartoon depicts four
leading Republicans trying to push an elephant to stand on a
teetering stack of ten tar buckets, the topmost of which is labeled
McCarthyism.
Slide 18
1951-1954: J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI director J. Edgar Hoover is one
of the nations most fervent anti-communists, and one of the most
powerful. The FBI operate a secret Responsibilities Program that
distributes anonymous documents with evidence from FBI files of
Communist affiliations on the part of teachers, lawyers, and
others. Many people accused in these blind memoranda are fired
without any further process.
Slide 19
1952: THE CRUCIBLE The 1952 Arthur Miller play The Crucible
used the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for McCarthyism,
suggesting that the process of McCarthyism-style persecution can
occur at any time or place. The play focused heavily on the fact
that once accused, a person would have little chance of
exoneration, given the irrational and circular reasoning of both
the courts and the public.
Slide 20
MARCH 9, 1954: EDWARD R. MURROW Edward R. Murrow broadcasts the
program See It Now, focusing on Senator McCarthy. This report,
which marks the beginning of the end for the senator, is told
mainly from McCarthys own words and pictures. After the show airs,
McCarthy says he wants more air time to respond to the remarks made
about him. During this broadcast, Murrow says, We must not confuse
dissent with disloyalty.
Slide 21
APRIL 22-JUNE 17, 1954: ARMY-MCCARTHY HEARINGS Senator McCarthy
conducts television hearings of those in the U.S. Army thought to
be affiliated with the Communist party. Republicans worry that
McCarthys public hearings are beginning to make him (and the entire
Republican party) look ridiculous.
Slide 22
DECEMBER 2, 1954: CENSURE AND THE WATKINS COMMITTEE Vermont
Republican Senator Ralph E. Flanders introduces a resolution to
censure McCarthy. A special committee, chaired by Senator Arthur V.
Watkins, is appointed to study and evaluate the resolution. After
two months of hearings and deliberations, the Watkins Committee
recommends that McCarthy be censured on two of the 46 counts. By a
vote of 67 to 22, Senator McCarthy is censured.
Slide 23
MAY 2, 1957: THE END Senator McCarthy dies of hepatitis at the
age of 47.