History 474B
Spring 2004
Devine
Study Questions
for Haynes, Red Scare or Red Menace?
Assignment: You
are responsible for reading the entire book however, if you are unable to
complete this reading over the course of the next week, be sure to read chapters
1-4; 5 OR 6; 7 OR 8; and the conclusion (Chapter 9).
- On the
first page of the preface, Haynes states that “four deficiencies stand
out” in most studies of American anticommunism in the late 1940s and
1950s. As you read the book, take
note of how he goes about addressing these deficiencies. Does Haynes succeed in burying the
“irrational hysteria” characterization of anti-communism still found in
many college text books?
- What
was it like living under Communism in those countries, like the Soviet Union,
where the Communist Party won control of the government?
- Why
did Americans dislike and even fear Communism? Why and during what periods did Americans’ fear of Communism
increase? What evidence does
Haynes cite to suggest that specific events more than paranoia or
other irrational impulses fueled this fear?
- Why
were the 1930s the “heyday” of American Communism?
- How
was the antifascist movement (or “brown scare”) of the 1930s similar to
the anticommunist movement (or “red scare”) of the late 1940s and
1950s? Do you see any historical
irony here?
- What
effects, long- and short-term, did the Nazi-Soviet pact have on the
American Communist party?
- How
did events abroad and revelations of espionage contribute to a rise in
anticommunism within the U.S.?
What was the significance of the Amerasia, Fuchs, and
Rosenberg cases? What effect did these case have on American politics?
- Who
was Elizabeth Bentley? Who was
Alger Hiss? How have recent
revelations changed historians’ assessments of them?
- Compare
and contrast evangelical, Catholic, socialist, Trotskyist, and labor
union-based anticommunism. Some
historians have argued that all anti-communists were the same – it did not
matter how they came to their anticommunism, they all contributed to the
red scare, so they all were “McCarthyites,” and therefore, they all should
be condemned. Haynes
disagrees. Does he make a good
case for his point of view? Where
do you stand?
- How
did Popular Front liberals (those who eventually joined PCA) differ from
anti-communist liberals (those who eventually joined ADA)? On what specific issues did they
disagree? Which side do you think
you would have been on? Why?
- Why
was Communism a big issue within the labor movement, particularly in
CIO? Why did CIO President Philip
Murray decide to expel the Communists from the CIO? Was this a good idea?
- How
did the Democrats deal with the issue of Communism during this
period? How did they contribute to
the popular notion of a “communist conspiracy?”
- Some
historians have argued that champion red-hunter Senator Joseph McCarthy
was in fact the worst thing that could have happened to the anticommunist
cause. Why do they say this?
- What
problems plagued the federal government’s personnel security program? Did the government need to institute
such a program?
- Why
did the philosopher Sidney Hook maintain that it was justifiable to fire a
teacher who was a member of the Communist Party? Does he make a good case
for his argument? [see p. 178]
- How
did various organizations with unrelated agendas exploit the popularity of
anticommunism to achieve their ends?
- Some
historians have argued that Americans were “obsessed” with Communism
during the 1950s. Haynes argues that
this is a myth. Does he make a good case for his revision of the “conventional
wisdom?”
- Haynes
concludes, “For all its sporadic ugliness, excesses, and silliness, the
anticommunism of the 1940s and 1950s was an understandable and rational
response to a real danger to American democracy.” To what extent do you agree? If you disagree, how would you rewrite
the last sentence of the book?