How Did the Cold War Affect Domestic Policy and American Society?
How did the Cold War affect domestic policy and American Society?
The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War. Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies. Even if the fear of impending doom was to be set aside, there would still be the fear of being accused as a communists. This lead to the Executive Order 9835, it states: “There shall be a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government” signed by President Truman.(Document 2) As well as the real government task called the “red scare” meaning: the rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrants of radical political views by the federal government in 1919 and 1920. This scare was caused by fears of subversion by communists in the United States after the Russian Revolution. During this time Joseph McCarthy came up with a list of people who were “known” communists that invaded the American government; overall, he was pointing fingers at everyone without any evidence. This started the House Un-American Activities Committee, or the HUAC. This group investigated possible Communist subversion everywhere, from schools to labor unions, even to the entertainment industry. At this point people were accusing their own neighbors of being communist. In document one, we see an illustration that shows the HUAC driving wildly, and running people over while hunting communists. The illustration is showing HUAC handled finding communists
The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War. Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies. Even if the fear of impending doom was to be set aside, there would still be the fear of being accused as a communists. This lead to the Executive Order 9835, it states: “There shall be a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government” signed by President Truman.(Document 2) As well as the real government task called the “red scare” meaning: the rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrants of radical political views by the federal government in 1919 and 1920. This scare was caused by fears of subversion by communists in the United States after the Russian Revolution. During this time Joseph McCarthy came up with a list of people who were “known” communists that invaded the American government; overall, he was pointing fingers at everyone without any evidence. This started the House Un-American Activities Committee, or the HUAC. This group investigated possible Communist subversion everywhere, from schools to labor unions, even to the entertainment industry. At this point people were accusing their own neighbors of being communist. In document one, we see an illustration that shows the HUAC driving wildly, and running people over while hunting communists. The illustration is showing HUAC handled finding communists