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How did McCarthyism and the Red Scare change American society and government?

A: While Americans were enjoying postwar prosperity and optimism, McCarthyism and the Red Scare caused society and government to fear Communism and an atomic attack. As a result, government officials led witch hunts, schools set aside special areas as bomb shelters and practiced duck and cover drills, and families built backyard fallout shelters.

While Americans were enjoying postwar prosperity and optimism, McCarthyism and the Red Scare caused society and government to fear Communism and an atomic attack. As a result, government officials led witch hunts, schools set aside special areas as bomb shelters and practiced duck and cover drills, and families built backyard fallout shelters. These fears also appeared in films and popular fiction.

McCarthy did not focus on nuclear war. That threat seemed real once the Soviets developed their own hydrogen bomb. What McCarthy was focused on was alleged Communists WITHIN the United States, especially in government jobs and in entertainment. Fear of the Soviet Union was one thing. McCarthy said there were traitors EVERYWHERE inside the United States, United States citizens who were spreading communism to youth and spying for the Soviets and making movies that had evil messages, like the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" where the whole town comes out to help George Bailey and the local miser is depicted badly.

I did not state that McCarthyism focused on nuclear war. I said, as I quote, "McCarthyism and THE RED SCARE caused society and government to fear Communism and an atomic attack."

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/huac

McCarthyism and "the red scare" are one and the same. Fear of nuclear war is not the same as "the red scare". The "red scare" involved fear of "reds" working in the State Department and other government jobs, Hollywood, teachers, etc.

Okay, then both McCarthyism and the Red Scare led people to fear Communism. But because they feared Communism, they also feared a surprise atomic attack from the Soviets.

Now, make no mistake. Fear of the Soviet Union and "communism" fueled "the red scare". The two are related. One involved foreign relations -- relations between the Soviets and the U.S. -- the other ended up accusing Americans of being communists trying to turn the United States "communist" from the inside.

Okay, then how do you suppose I should change my answer? Because I am becoming confused with all the information you're throwing at me.

Yes, we feared a nuclear attack from the Soviets. We also feared subversives, American citizens who may or may not have once attended a political meeting or joined the POLITICAL communist party in the U.S. (which never was illegal). Many people were suspected of being "communists" and were denied jobs or blacklisted. Most of those people were not at all trying to overthrow the government or turn anybody into a communist at all, but were falsely accused.

Okay. I don't blame you for being confused. The difference between "the red scare" and fear of the Soviet Union is really simple. The Red Scare involved people INSIDE the U.S.A., citizens, accused of supporting communism as an economic system and wanting to convert the U.S. to that economic system. Fear of the Soviets was fear of a foreign enemy that happened to be communist (and totalitarian).