The Red Scare

                                                                                                                                                  1/6/16
                                                                The Red Scare
    During the 1940s and 1950s the United States of America was actively engaged in a political and economic war with the communist Soviet Union known as the Cold War. Americans became fearful of Soviet spies trying to gain an advantage in the war for the Soviet Union by infiltrating the American populace. The Soviet Union was communist, so it was assumed that all communists sympathized with the Soviet Union and were potential spies and wanted to make America  a communist nation. Communist power over seas increased with the rise of a communist China and scientific breakthroughs in the Soviet Union. This rise in power resulted in fear that the U.S  would become a communist country. These fears resulted in what was to be known as the Red Scare.
During the Red Scare a severe distrust of immigrants from communist countries developed in the U.S. Immigrants were the primary targets of communist accusations. The Red Scare was further propelled by people such as Joseph McCarthy who fanned the flames by over-exaggerating the possibility of a communist takeover. Joseph McCarthy used the Red Scare to gain political power and influence by accusing anyone who opposed his ideas of being communist.  Ordinary people and persons of political power began to be accused of being communist by other Americans. The accused were often alienated from their normal lives when they were fired from their jobs and/or hounded by law enforcement. More often than not, the accused were often innocent and even those who were communist deserved no punishment for their beliefs.
The Red Scare finally came to an end during the late 1950s when Americans finally realized that a communist takeover was highly unlikely. Although the Red Scare did come to an end it still left a mark. Many innocent people’s lives had been disrupted after being accused of being affiliated with communism. American politics was also changed in that it would always use the Red Scare as an example as to why Americans cannot let fear cloud their judgement.