Brian Abbinanti

HIST-1700
Response Assignment #3
1) Based on what you learned from the film Reds AND Chapter 12.1 of the text, do you think the
responses of the U.S. government to the Cold War at home were appropriate? Why, or why not?
From 1946 to about 1953 the American government was in a state of panic. They feared
that the American way was being attacked from an unseen threat of Soviet spies to undermine the
power that the United States had in the world. The fear wasnt entirely the simple fall of
democracy and capitalism, but that it would fall to communism. This was often reflected in
jargon from political leaders that communism was evil and acted as a scourge to humanity.
This Red Scare resulted in some quite dramatic responses in an effort to crush communist
insurgence.
In many cases these responses were unnecessarily intense and ruthless. The prime
example of this was the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple accused of
transmitting American intel to the soviets. While they were tried with little evidence they still
received death. A witness to the executions told that Julius passed quickly but that Ethel died
harder when the initial dosage of electricity was not enough to kill her. Evidence found many
years later indicate that Julius was indeed guilty, but no evidence has surfaced to show beyond a
reasonable doubt that Ethel was involved is such espionage. An innocent life is not to be taken
lightly.
Harsh interviews were taken not only in government positions but in other employments
as well such as entertainers in Hollywood to root out communist sympathizers. Events put in

motion due to Trumans executive order 9835 led to anyone subpoenaed for interview had to be
scrutinized by FBI investigators. Anyone who didnt arrive to trial or invoked the fifth
amendment risked imprisonment or being put on a blacklist respectively. It is impossible to know
whether or not people who respected their privacy deserved such harsh consequences on account
of being guilty of espionage.
Many actions to contain communism domestically went against many Americans rights.
This panic and fear from not only the US government, but many of the loyal americans gave
leverage to a senator named Richard Nixon to rise in political power with his very anticommunism platform.