During The Cold War Dbq

It is safe to say that the Cold War brought political and cultural conflicts between what it meant to be a “true American.”A common word that would be associated with communism at the time was containment, which was followed through in the presidency of Harry Truman as he attempted to keep it out of America with his own foreign policy. The issue with establishing what it truly meant to be an American was that it was never settled before the Cold War, everything from art, music, religion, literature, life as a married couple, child-rearing, relations between men and women, and living arrangements determined what would soon be known as American identity. Now more than ever was the time to be an active participating American citizen. The Red Scare,

Overall, being a true American during the Cold War could best be described as a person who devotes themselves towards participating in typical activities that help them blend in the crowd with everyone else. Herbert Block, a political cartoonist, created the cartoon “You read books, eh?” (Document 5) in response to the rise in anti-Communism in the 1940s and 1950s. Some people even considered this hysteria as the Second Red Scare since Americans became paranoid over every little possible action that could make someone a Communist in disguise. This cartoon in in particular emphasizes how overreaction towards the activities suspicious Americans took part in. You see the classroom of a woman being speculated for anything that can make her a Communist, as one man in particular sees the U.S.S.R. on the world map and looks as if he jumps to the conclusion that she might be working with them (Document 5). A suitcase on the floor states that these men are a part of the state and local Anti-Subversive Committees in the United States (Document 5). This photo just goes to show how Americans efforts to find communist in the 1940s and 1950s were not done in the proper manner since anything could accuse an innocent person of being a