Interpret the Evidence and Put It in Context

Document Links:

Document 24.5 Ronald Reagan, Testimony before HUAC, 1947

Document 24.6 John Howard Lawson, Testimony before HUAC, 1947

Document 24.7 The Waldorf Statement and the Introduction of the Blacklist, 1947

Document 24.8 Herblock, “Fire!” 1949

Document 24.9 Lillian Hellman, Letter to HUAC, 1952

Interpret the Evidence

  1. According to Ronald Reagan (Document 24.5), what threats does communism pose to American society? Why was Communist influence in entertainment seen as particularly dangerous? How should the Communist threat be handled?

  2. How do the movie producers (Document 24.7) draw the line between artistic expression and blacklisting?

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

  4. Compare the testimonies of John Howard Lawson and Lillian Hellman (Documents 24.6 and 24.9). What are their chief objections to testifying before HUAC?

  5. 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?

Put It in Context

Why did anti-Communist investigations dominate politics after World War II?

How well do you think the inquiries addressed the problem?

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