Interpret the Evidence and Put It in Context

1. Question

   According to Ronald Reagan (Document 24.6), what threats did communism pose to American society? Why was Communist influence in entertainment seen as particularly dangerous? How should the Communist threat be handled?

2. Question

   How did the Herblock cartoon (Document 24.8) connect anti-Communist hysteria to the extinguishing of constitutional rights? Why did he see McCarthyism as a threat to American society?

3. Question

   Compare the testimonies of John Howard Lawson and Lillian Hellman (Documents 24.7 and 24.9). What were their chief objections to testifying before HUAC?

4. Question

   In what ways does Arthur Miller criticize both the right and the left (Document 24.10)?

5. Question

   In what different ways would HUAC and the witnesses appearing before it have defined “Un-American”? What gave HUAC so much power in the 1940s and 1950s?

• Question

  Compare the Red scare following World War I with McCarthyism.