By: Jesseicka Brown

During the World War I era, the U.S. experienced a “Red Scare,” or national hysteria about the dangers of communists and radicals. The Red Scare was influenced by wartime patriotism, immigration from eastern Europe, and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and fueled by newspaper editorials and cartoons.

Cartoon by James P. Alley which is a “European Anarchist” sneaking up on the Statue of Liberty. At time of the red scare, anarchist was the term for people who wanted to overthrow the government.

The so-called "Red Scare" refers to the fear of communism in the USA during the 1920’s.

It is said that there were over 150,000 anarchists or communists in USA in 1920 alone and this represented only 0.1% of the overall population of the USA. 

Central PowersAllied PowersLeaders hoped that these

alliances would keep the peace and believed that no one nation would not

attack the other.As the great World War

One begins these alliances were formed to protect themselves from the

opposing armed forces.

Shortly after the end of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the Red Scare took hold in the United States.

Many countries were involved in this war because of the complex alliances that were formed with developing countries. In addition, the United States joined the war to support ally forces. The Red Scare was sparked by revolutions around the world, especially the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. This revolution led to a worldwide fear of the possibility that other countries might experience this same type of revolution.

The nation was gripped for fear, innocent people for expressing their views, civil liberties were ignored, and many Americans feared that a Bolshevik style revolution was at hand.

Communism is described as a socialism that abolishes private ownership and seeks to create a classless society(the government wanted everyone to be equal)

The fear of communism was the driving force behind all of the social crisis during the Cold War.

Citizens were constantly in fear of each others, the governmental inspection, and the invisible enemies.

The fear of communism had caused the jailing of many screen writers, school teachers, and many other innocent citizens; the fear also powered many unnecessary spy trails and unfair jail sentences.

1. Communism ultimately enslaves its citizens to the will of a supreme leader.

2. In a communist system, wealth is consumed more quickly than it is created until it is depleted entirely. This leads to the need to conquer other nations (usually capitalist democracies) that still possess wealth.

3. Communists reject and persecute people with religious beliefs.

4. Communists don't allow individuals to strive to accumulate wealth. This comes into direct conflict with Western systems of capitalism.

5. communism contradicts the first amendment and takes away the rights of people by making everyone in society equal… having a classless society.

As World War II was ending, a fear-driven movement known as the Second Red Scare began to spread across the United States.

Once the United States no longer had to concentrate its efforts on winning World War II, many Americans became afraid that communism might spread to the United States and threaten the nation's democratic values.

One of the main tactics used at the federal level was the creation of various investigative committees. Senator Joseph McCarthy chaired one such committee, hoping to end communist influence in the federal government.

Joseph McCarthy was a United States Senator representing the state of Wisconsin.

Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to have lists of names of people that secretly held allegiances with the communist parties, lists that often contained names of many high ranking public officials and also celebrities.

The media, which was so important in the fifties, picked up on McCarthy's "blacklists" and ran them in the papers. As a result, not only was communism a force from overseas to fear, it was a force within America’s own boundaries.

Joseph McCarthy served in the Senate from 1947 until his death in 1957 at the age of 48

The fear of communist created McCarthyism which was an intense effort to root out communists from American society.

One focus of popular McCarthyism concerned the provision of public health services, particularly vaccination, mental health care services and fluoridation, all of which were deemed by some to be communist plots to poison or brainwash the American people.

The first recorded use of the term McCarthyism was in a political cartoon by Herbert Block.

The cartoon depicts four leading Republicans trying to push an elephant ( which is the traditional symbol of the Republican Party) to stand on a teetering stack of ten tar buckets, the topmost of which was labeled "McCarthyism".

Herbert Block

The press and public became more and more involved in McCarthy’s assertions. The press and public demanded to know who was on the list and how McCarthy knew they were communists. From this start, everyday people started to look at friends, relatives and neighbors differently. Suddenly, everyday people were being suspected of being communists, without proof.

In the 1950’s, the U.S. Senate had committee meetings to uncover communists, and many Americans were brought in front of the committee to answer questions as to whether they were members of the communist party.

By the mid-1950’s the ideals of McCarthyism started to lose support, and the public started to believe that the chase for the red scare was actually a red herring(a clue which is intended to be misleading or distracting from the actual truth). By the time of McCarthy’s death in 1957.

A fervent patriotism was prevalent in the country, spurred by propagandist George Creel, chairman of the United States Committee on Public Information. While American boys were fighting the "Huns" abroad, many Americans fought them at home. Anyone who wasn't as patriotic as possible such as "slackers," German-Americans, immigrants and Communists were suspect.

Innocent people were jailed and imprisoned for expressing their views and many were questioned.

Spurred by public expectations, the Justice Department acted in November 1919 and January 1920 by launching massive raids. More than ten thousand people were arrested.

• In 1953, the Ohio General Assembly, with Governor Frank Lausche's approval,

extended the Ohio Un-American Activities Committee's existence. Lausche generally

opposed the committee's actions, but he faced great pressure from Ohio voters, who feared communism, to continue seeking out

communists.• The governor contended that the committee's actions might put into "grave danger. . .the reputations of innocent people against whom accusations can be made on the basis of rumor and frequently rooted in malice," but he also stated that "Communism is a menace to our country."

• In 1952, the Ohio Un-American Activities Committee contended that 1,300 Ohioans were members of the Communist Party.

After the fall elections of 1954, the Senate voted to condemn McCarthy for conduct unbecoming to his office.

These violations had begun to convince many Americans to not support the actions of the state and the federal governments.

This bringing the worst aspects of the Second Red Scare to an end, although many Americans continued to fear communists and their influence.

Following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the establishment of the Soviet Union, the Communists made efforts to promote revolutions in Europe and the US. In 1919, President Wilson appointed A. Mitchell Palmer as his attorney-general. His attempts to root out the communists, anarchists, and other radicals became known as The Red Scare. Bombs were found by the US Post Office, addressed to prominent politicians and capitalists. An anarchist was blown up outside of Palmer’s home. News was leaked to the press that the government was investigating important Americans and there was a belief that a radical overthrow of the government was in the works. Palmer enlisted the services of an attorney, J. Edgar Hoover, to help enforce provisions of the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act (1917/1918). A series of “Palmer Raids” were held in November, 1919, and thousands of anarchists, immigrants, and communists were rounded up. Many were detained without being charged and many were simply deported back to their native country with no evidence that they had done anything wrong. Palmer continued his raids despite finding no evidence of any kind of communist plot. Palmer claimed that May 1, 1920 (the socialist Labor Day) would bring massive demonstrations against the government. Nothing happened. The public became aware that Palmer was detaining people without cause, conducting searches without warrants, and deporting immigrants for no reason. Some even suggested he was making up the crisis so he could gain the nomination of the Democrats for president in 1920. Palmer’s popularity fell and the Red Scare came to an end as quickly as it started.

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