Lesson 9.02 Communism and the Red Scare

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Joseph McCarthyU.S. Senator from Wisconsin who led the charge against potential Communist subversives (left), Julius and Ethel RosenbergAmerican citizens executed for their involvement in a conspiracy to provide U.S. intelligence to the USSR (middle), and Alger HissU.S. State Department official who was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 (right) are all names that have become synonymous with the Second Red Scare in the United States. While Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs fell victim to the fear and suspicion of the era, Joseph McCarthy used his platform as a U.S. Senator to encourage the communist hunt. Between 1947 and 1954, several hundred Americans were arrested, convicted, and even executed for their potential subversive activity against the United States.

Learn more about the events of the Second Red Scare by reviewing the information provided below.

• History: Red Scare
• History: Hollywood Ten
• History: Accused Spy Alger Hiss Convicted of Perjury

Photograph Citations (left to right):

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (1909-1957) IRC,  2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 27 April 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com>.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Roger Higgins, photographer from "New York World-Telegram and the Sun." Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection.

Alger Hiss (b. 1904) IRC,  2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 27 April 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.