Little 'Red Scares': Anti-Communism and Political Repression in the United States, 1921-1946Anti-communism has long been a potent force in American politics, capable of gripping both government and popular attention. Nowhere is this more evident that the two great 'red scares' of 1919-20 and 1946-54; the latter generally - if somewhat inaccurately - termed McCarthyism. The interlude between these two major scares has tended to garner less attention, but as this volume makes clear, the lingering effects of 1919-20 and the gathering storm-clouds of 'McCarthyism' were clearly visible throughout the 20s and 30s, even if in a more low-key way. Indeed, the period between the two great red scares was marked by frequent instances of political repression, often justified on anti-communist grounds, at local, state and federal levels. Yet these events have been curiously neglected in the history of American political repression and anti-communism, perhaps because much of the material deals with events scattered in time and space which never reached the intensity of the two great scares. By focusing on this twenty-five year 'interim' period, the essays in this collection bridge the gap between the two high-profile 'red scares' thus offering a much more contextualised and fluid narrative for American anti-communism. In so doing the rationale and motivations for the 'red scares' can be seen as part of an evolving political landscape, rather than as isolated bouts of hysteria exploding onto - and then vanishing from - the political scene. Instead, a much more nuanced appreciation of the conflicting interests and fears of government, politicians, organised labour, free-speech advocates, employers, and the press is offered, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand the political history of modern America. |
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Contents
AntiCommunism at State and Local | |
Red Herrings? The Fish Committee and AntiCommunism in | |
Little Red Schoolhouses? AntiCommunists and Education in | |
Employers and AntiCommunism | |
Labor and Anticommunism between | |
Spanish Republican Aid and the Origins | |
Real Americans and | |
AntiCommunism and | |
New Yorks RappCoudert Attack | |
Anti | |
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Common terms and phrases
ACLU activists administration African Americans agents American Legion anti anti-Communism anti-Communist arrested Association Athan Theoharis attacks Attorney bill Bureau campaign Catholic Chicago City civil liberties civil rights claimed Cold War College committee’s Communism Communist Party Congress Congressional conservative consumer movement CPUSA defense Democratic Detroit Dies Committee Dies’s economic Edgar Hoover Education efforts employers espionage fascism FBI’s federal File Fish Committee folder free speech groups Harry Bridges History Hoover HUAC Ibid immigrants industrial investigation leaders League legislation liberal loyalty oaths McCarthyism National organizations Papers patriotic police Political Repression Popular Front President Press propaganda protest racial radical raids Rapp–Coudert Record Red Scare Robert Roosevelt Schoenchen schools Senate Smith Act social Social Democratic Federation Socialist Soviet Spanish strike struggle subversive surveillance Teachers Union UFT Archives United University violence Washington wiretaps women workers World York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Little 'Red Scares': Anti-Communism and Political Repression in the United States, 1921-1946 |
| Editor | Robert Justin Goldstein |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | Routledge, 2016 |
| ISBN | 1317104137, 9781317104131 |
| Length | 380 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies) History / Modern / 20th Century |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |