Communisim In The 1950S Essays - Anti-communism In The United States

Communisim In The 1950'S Thesis: The Red Scare of the 1950's caused a massive movement for the people of that time period. I. Introduction II. The Basis of Communisim A. Communisim: Defined B. Political Aspects 1. Communist associations 2.Communist fears C. Physical Aspects 1. Incidents 2. Blacklisting III. Propaganda A. Recruitment B. The Red Scare 1. Communist propaganda 2. Anti-communist defenses IV. Leaders in the movement-McCarthy A. Obsessions 1. The conspiracy 2. Focus on his campaign B. Accusations 1. Alger Hiss 2. Owen Lattimore V. The Cold War A. Conflict with Russia 1. Destruction of atomic weapons 2. War in Greece 3. Failure to adopt Marshall Plan B. European Recovery 1. European Recovery Program 2. Increase in trade VI. Protection A. U.S. Defenses 1. New Weapons 2. New Technology B. Punishments VII. What was Learned A. More tolerance B. Less hate C. Comparisons between the Fifties and now 1. Understanding 2. Lessons VIII. Conclusions America: Land of the free, and the home of the brave. This famous expression has been used numerous times throughout history, even scoring a line in our country's national anthem. But in our high-tech socety, many Americans can not even understand what our forefathers went through to achieve this American dream. People do not even grasp the concept of what it has taken to keep the freedom of this country ringing. Place youself in the footsteps of the average American of the 1950's, dealing with the Russian threat of communist rule and the fear of being taken over an opposite world power. Post World War II struggles make it hard for anyone to get by, and each coming day leads to another unpredictable twist for the country in which you reside. The powerful threat of communisim, which came to be known as the Red Scare, is the basis of all of the nation's problems. This Red Scare of the 1950's was a powerful, radical, and controversial issue for nearly everyone in that time period, and what's more is the propaganda that was used to sell communist leadership to the American people, who were deathly afraid of what the future might hold. This Red Scare lasted throughout the Fifties and beyond. The Fabulous Fifties... well, were they really so fabulous, after all? First of all, for total understanding of the Red Scare of the fifties, one must become acquainted with the term communisim. Communisim can be defined as: a type of government in which a small group of leaders dictates a country or nation by distributing goods and money equally among the country's citizens (Webster's, 1994). As of today, nations such as Russia and China are run by communist authority. Although this system of government works in theory, it requires the sacrifice of freedom of the people who are being ruled. Other aspects of communist rule include communist associations, which during the 1950's had 10,000 members across the United States of America, dedicated to making communist rule in the United States a reality (Miller, 1954). Incidents in which communisim was a serious matter in the 1950's include the jailing of an American couple for reportedly talking communisim. A later report indicated that the couple was merely discussing American relations with Japan, but it was around the time that this event occured that people began to really began to fear communists and their beliefs (Miller, 1954). Communists, or people suspected of being communists, were also blacklisted, making them unable to get jobs, insurance, and loans, among other things (Salem Press, 1992). Recruitment for memebers of the communist political party was, during the 1950's, based solely on propaganda. This false advertising glorified the things that communist rule was supposed to offer, such as jobs, money, and food for everyone. This especially appealed to America's lower-class society, with dreams of brighter futures and lifestyles for themselves and generations to come. Of course, communist activists never mentioned anything about the freedoms that our nation, under communist rule, would stand to lose. On the contrary, though, anti-communists startled Americans by leveling their defense by making it seem like all members of communist parties were murderers and terrorists, which is where the term Red Scare was generated from (Associated Press, 1995). These defenses were used primarily to keep communist beliefs away from our American democracy, but frightened Americans into believing that all communists and people from countries such as Russia, which had communist leadership, were evil. On the other hand, Douglass Miller notes in his book, The Fifties: