U.S. History IIThe Cold War (1945 to 1991)D2.His.4.9-12
The Second Red Scare
Fear of Soviet spying (the Hiss and Rosenberg cases) led to loyalty programs, congressional hearings (HUAC) and Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations (1950 to 1954) until the Senate censured him.
As the Cold War deepened, many Americans feared communists inside the country as well as abroad. Like the first Red Scare after World War I, this one mixed real dangers with fear that reached far beyond them.
🔑 Key idea
Fear of Soviet spying (the Hiss and Rosenberg cases) led to loyalty programs, congressional hearings (HUAC) and Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations (1950 to 1954), until the Senate censured him in December 1954.
💡 Why it works
The fear had causes. In 1949 the Soviets tested an atomic bomb years sooner than expected, and communists won China's civil war. Alger Hiss, a former State Department official accused of spying, was convicted of perjury in 1950. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of passing atomic secrets and executed in 1953. Truman's loyalty program (1947) screened federal workers, and the House Un-American Activities Committee questioned Hollywood writers and others; many were blacklisted and lost their jobs, often for past political ties rather than any crime.
On February 9, 1950, in Wheeling, West Virginia, McCarthy claimed to have a list of communists in the State Department. For four years he made charges he rarely proved, and many people feared to oppose him. In the televised Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, the Army's lawyer Joseph Welch asked him, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" Public support fell, and the Senate censured McCarthy, 67 to 22.
Work it through
✏️ Worked example: Holding two facts at once
A student says, "The Red Scare proves there were no Soviet spies." Another says, "The spies prove McCarthy was right." Correct both.
Real Soviet espionage existed: Soviet cables decoded in the Venona project, made public in 1995, confirmed many spies, including Julius Rosenberg.
McCarthy's own charges were mostly unproven, and many accusations against ordinary people were baseless.
Both facts are true: there was spying, and there was an overreach that harmed innocent people.
Answer: Spying was real; much of the accusation was not. Historians weigh both.
⚠️ Common mistake
Students think every accusation was false, or that there was no Soviet spying. Real Soviet espionage existed (as later records confirm), and many accusations against ordinary people were baseless. A second slip: McCarthy was a senator, so he did not lead HUAC, which is a House committee.
Practice
Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.