The late 1940’s were a time of much change in American society. World War II had just ended and most of Europe was forced to pick up the broken pieces of what was left of its nation. Despite Europe taking most of the damage, America also had to face changes. Due to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stance and plunged itself into the Cold War. This war did not involve direct fighting with Russia, but still affected American society and domestic policy. The war led to a fear of livlihood when Joseph McCarthy began his “witchhunt”. It lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war in Americans. The Cold war also led to tax payer money being spent on defense and expansion of sciences.
Despite the fear of impending doom, during the Cold War, one of the main fears an American had was being accused of being an communist. The “red scare” was a real government task that made Americans fear losing their jobs and becoming enemies of the state. In the 1950’s, a man by the name of Joseph McCarthy came up with a list that stated the names of “known” communists that invaded the American government. This lead to the beginning of the House Committee on Un-American activities. The duties of this group was to investigate anyone who may be suspicious of un-american activitIes. They would attack anyone in their way and claim it was justified because they feared the Communists invading their nation (Document 2). The government began to require employees to pledge an oath saying that one is not a communist, or has affiliation with one or any similar organization (Document 1). Breaking this oath meant investigation and possibly a trial. Never before had something like this happened in American society. Many applauded the government for rooting out the cause of the Cold War, but many also question the viability of the accusations against potentially innocent individuals (Document 4). The Cold War caused American society to become divided over the fight against communism. It also pinned man against man, and caused a fear of an impending war.
Despite being cold a “cold war”, the threat of a real war was always looming over the heads of Americans. The Russians now had nuclear weapons that could wipe out the entire world. The Cuban Missile crisis was an eye opener for Americans. It showed that the war could happen with a single press of a button. That is way more money was spent towards the defense of lives. Homeowners took to the habit of stocking up on supplies and building bomb shelters that they hoped would protect them (Document 5). The Cold War also led to wars that involved the lives of American soldiers. Before, those in the army were volunteers. They wished to perform their civic duties and were not afraid to defend their nations. However, as more wars occurred more men did not want to be involved in the needless battles. This brought about the draft. As young boys approach the age of 18, they feared what would happen if they received that small slip sending them to war (Document 7). Americans were scared of what the Cold War would bring to them if it progressed to the next level.
Despite the Cold War bringing mostly fear to Americans, it also brought an age of innovation. To some, the Cold War was simply an arms race. The Soviets did not want to fall behind the Americans, so they created an atom bomb. The Americans did not want to fall behind the soviets, so after the launch of Soviet satellite Sputnik, they reduced spending on education. This allowed them to focus more on sciences, and led to the eventual landing on the moon (Document 6). The changes of spending was not only in the sciences, but also in defense. Before the Cold War began, the budget on defense was less than 20%, with the rest being spent on other programs. However, as the war progressed, the budget gradually increased until the 1960’s when it was over 50%. The budget only decreased after 1990, when the Cold War had ended (Document 8). The reason for the change of spending in domestic policies is because America was always fearing war. If America wasn’t under the threat of war, it was preventing war and trying to keep peace (Document 3). It cost to send diplomats to foreign nations to negotiate peace, or to build missiles that matched that of the Soviets. That is why more taxes had to be placed on citizens, whether they wanted the defense or not.
Eventually the changes in domestic policy would lead to the counterculture, or age of rebellion during the Vietnam war. However, for the most part, the Cold War changed American society by introducing both foreign and domestic fear into the lives of Americans. It also brought increase spending in defense programs. The Cold War introduced an age of science innovation that would limit education, but also bring about programs that would expand man kind into the unknown of space.
Heather Casias 