Chapter 28

Section 4

THE COLD WAR AT HOME

Captain America-comic book figure became extremely

popular-provided reassurance to Americans that he would

rid the country of Communism

COLD WAR FEARSThe United States government created 3 government departments/agencies in hopes of controlling the spread/threat of communism into the United States

• 1947 – congress replaces the War Department with Department of Defense

• This combined leadership/command of the army, navy, and air force under the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• National Security Council (NSC)

• Advise the President and Department of Defense on strategic matters

• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

• Gathers strategic military and political information from overseas

• Originally established in the 1930’s to investigate fascists groups in the US.

• In the 1950’s the responded to charges and allegations that the movie industry was full of communists

• Held hearings to investigate a group of California film directors and writers – Hollywood Ten

• The group chose to go to jail rather than answer the questions from the HUAC, causing them to be blacklisted and their careers were destroyed.

HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE(HUAC)

Spies• HUAC investigated individuals they felt were spying for the Soviets

• Alger Hiss – Pumpkin Papers

• 1951 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Americans that were convicted of providing the Soviets with atomic-energy secrets during WWII.

• Both were executed in 1953

• Creation of the Internal Security Act, passed in 1950

• Required all members of the communist party to register with the federal government

• Imposed strict controls on immigrants thought to have communist ties

MCCARTHYISM• Joseph McCarthy - US Senator from Wisconsin – intensified the fears that

communism had infested the US

• “the Communists within our borders have been more responsible for the success of communist abroad than Soviet Russia”

• Used his position in the government to intimidate and accuse government officials in position of power, with no evidence, of supporting or sympathizing with communism.

• The Crucible – Arthur Miller, draws connections between McCarthyism and The Salem Witch Trials

SENATOR JOSEPH

MCCARTHY

NUCLEAR ANXIETY - US/SOVIET ARMS RACE• Increased conflict between US and Soviets has increased the arms race, or

race to develop even more powerful nuclear weapons

• US scientist began working on the H-Bomb, Hydrogen Bomb, claiming it would be 1000X more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

• The first run test of the H-Bomb completely vaporized a small island in the Pacific Ocean

• 9 months after US tested this bomb the Soviets tested their own H-Bomb.

IMPACTS OF NUCLEAR ANXIETY ON RELIGION

• Americans turned to religion to calm fears about nuclear war

• Church attendance increased

• Congress added “One Nation Under God” in the pledge & “In God We Trust” on US coins

CALMING FEARS

• Government launched programs to inform Americans what to do for nuclear attack

• Pamphlets, posters, trainings, films, magazines, TV shows, & “Duck & Cover”

SPACE PROGRAMS• Sputnik – Soviet Union launched its first official satellite in 1957

• Sputnik II – launched with dog inside one month later

• US feared it was falling behind in technological developments, in January of 1958 US launched Explorer I into orbit and the space race had begun.

• NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration was establishd

• National Defense Act – 1958, congress approved millions of dollars to improve education in science, math, and foreign languages.