CWT STEP ONE 9.6 MP3 Common Writing Task Document Set CoMEPLAET ALL 9 Prompt: How did the Cold War impact U.S. domestic policy and American society? Document 1: Executive Order 10450, “Security...

CWT STEP ONE

9.6 MP3 Common Writing Task Document Set CoMEPLAET ALL 9

Prompt: How did the Cold War impact U.S. domestic policy and American society?

Document 1:
Executive Order 10450, “Security Requirements for Government Employment,” signed by President Eisenhower on April 27, 1953. Lexile® Measure: 1210L

After the end of WWII and the start of the Cold War, fear of communism that led to the repression of civil liberties, known as the Red Scare, gripped the U.S. A second lesser known but more widespread fear, known as the Lavender Scare, occurred from the late 1940s through the 1960s. During the Lavender Scare several thousand Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Americans were fired or forced to resign from the federal government. Homosexuality was viewed as an immoral disease at the time and individuals such as Senator McCarthy connected homosexuality and communism. In 1950 two congressional committees investigated homosexuality in the federal workforce. They issued a report called “Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government,” which concluded that LGBT people should not be employed by the federal government because they were "generally unsuitable" and constituted "security risks." Much was made of their supposed vulnerability to blackmail, though evidence of this was lacking. This report laid the groundwork for the following executive order, which effectively banned LGBT people from federal employment.

WHEREAS the interests of the national security require that all persons privileged to be employed in the departments and agencies of the Government, shall be reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and of complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States...

Sec. 8. (a) The investigations conducted according to this order shall be designed to develop information as to whether the employment or retention in employment in the Federal service of the person being investigated is clearly consistent with the interests of the national security. Such information shall relate, but shall not be limited, to the following:

1. 
   

   Depending on the relation of the Government employment to the national security:

   
   




1. 
   

   Any behavior, activities, or associations which tend to show that the individual is not reliable or trustworthy.

   
   


2. 
   

   Any deliberate misrepresentations, falsifications, or omissions of material facts.

   
   


3. 
   

   Any criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct, habitual use of intoxicants to excess, drug addiction, sexual perversion.

   
   


4. 
   

   Any facts which furnish reason to believe that the individual may be subjected to coercion, influence, or pressure which may cause him to act contrary to the best interests of the national security…

   
   

Document 2: Federal Civil Defense Administration, “Duck and Cover” social guidance film, 1951.

The USSR successfully tested the atomic bomb in 1949 and Truman responded in 1950 with ordering the use to develop the more powerful hydrogen bomb. This short film was one of several created by the Federal Civil Defense Administration, a government organization created in 1950 entirely dedicated to civilian preparedness during the Cold War. It was created in cooperation with the public schools of New York and played in classrooms across the country. The strategy of “duck and cover” was shown to be useless by 1957 but the video and the strategy continued to be taught. Some Americans claimed to have been shown “Duck and Cover” in the early 1980s, 30 years later.

Transcript Excerpts from “Duck and Cover”

Document 3: Herb Block, “Say, what ever happened to 'freedom-from-fear’?" printed in The Washington Post, August 13, 1951. (Adapted)

As some Americans worried that communists might subvert schools, labor unions and other institutions of everyday life, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and Senator Joseph McCarthy increased their investigations of individuals and groups deemed suspicious.

Herb Block, a well-known cartoonist and government critic, coined the phrase “McCarthyism” to criticize the investigations and call attention to them on the front pages of well read newspapers. The man in this cartoon with the paint bucket is Senator McCarthy.

Document 4: United States, Changing Priorities in Federal Spending, 1940-1995.

The United States’ total spending increased from $10 billion to $100 billion over the course of World War II. After the war, decisions had to be made on how to spend that money.

Document 5: Senator Margaret Chase Smith, “Declaration of Conscience,” June 1, 1950. (Adapted, Lexile® Measure: 1070L)

Senator Smith was a Republican representing the state of Maine. She was the only female U.S. senator at the time. She gave this speech on the floor of the Senate to criticize Senator McCarthy’s unsupported accusations of communist infiltration of the U.S. government. Smith was one of the first members of her party to stand up to McCarthy. This speech was delivered four months after McCarthy claimed there were 205 communists in the State Department.

I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul-searching. It is time for us to weigh our consciences on how we are performing our duty to the people of America and how we are using or abusing our individual powers.


I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.


Whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical distinction when the life of a person has been ruined. Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism:

• 
  

  The right to criticize;

  
  


• 
  

  The right to hold unpopular beliefs;

  
  


• 
  

  The right to protest;

  
  


• 
  

  The right of independent thought.

  
  

The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood. He should not be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs. Who of us doesn’t?

The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds to avoid being politically smeared as "Communists" or "Fascists" by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.

Document 6: Herb Block, “Hey-- Don’t Forget the Bottom Part, Too,” The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, November 15, 1957.

Herb Block, a well-known cartoonist and critic of the government, created this cartoon in 1957, six weeks after the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting satellite, Sputnik. The launch caused a great deal of discussion in the United States and resulted in the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. The NDEA increased science education funding through a defense spending bill. The NDEA gave financial support to colleges and institutions of higher education and gave funding to science, math and foreign language programs in public schools. Supporters say the NDEA increased college attendance and scientific research but critics say it was too narrowly focused on science.

Document 7: Paul Robeson, “Unread Statement before the House Committee on Un-American Activities,” June 12, 1956. (Adapted) Lexile® Measure: 1240L

Paul Robeson was a singer, actor and social justice activist in the 1930s and 1940s. His father escaped slavery. An All-American Athlete at Rutgers University, as well as an Honors student, Robeson went to Columbia Law School while playing professional football. However, he became famous for his voice and performed many years on Broadway. During this time he toured the world giving public performances, including in the Soviet Union. Robeson argued for racial equality at home and the end to colonization abroad. His passport was taken away and he was prevented from traveling between 1950-1958. Called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Robeson refused to say whether or not he belonged to the Communist Party and invoked his 5th Amendment right. Robeson prepared, but was not allowed to deliver the following testimony to HUAC.

It is a sad and bitter commentary on the state of civil liberties in America that the very forces of reaction, who have denied me access to the lecture podium, the concert hall, the opera house, and the stage, now bring me before a committee of inquisition in order to hear what I have to say. It is obvious that those who are trying to silence me here and abroad will scarcely grant me the freedom to express myself fully in a hearing controlled by them.

It would be more fitting for me to question the committee than for them to question me. It is they who should be called to account for their conduct, not I. Why don’t they investigate the truly "un-American" activities of white supremacist Congressmen who think the Constitution is a scrap of paper when invoked by black people and who believe defiance of the Supreme Court is a racial duty? How can they pretend concern over the internal security of our country while they support the most brutal assaults on fifteen million Americans by the White Citizens' Councils and the Ku Klux Klan?

... My fight for a passport is a struggle for freedom: freedom to travel, freedom to earn a livelihood, freedom to speak, freedom to express myself artistically and culturally. I have been denied these freedoms because the U.S. government opposes my views on colonial liberation, my resistance to oppression of Black Americans, and my burning desire for peace with all nations...

Document 8: Smithsonian and National Archives, Images about Nuclear Fallout, 1960-1961.

In 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, starting a period known as an “arms race” between the US and the USSR. At the time these images were created three countries had tested the hydrogen bomb: the U.S., the USSR, and Britain. The US was spending money on weapons research and development, but it was preparing citizens at home for a possible nuclear attack. One technique to prepare citizens was the building of fallout shelters. Private homes and public buildings had fallout shelters that were stocked with canned goods and other necessities.

Image 1: McNiles Press, Inc., “Official Fallout Shelter Plans,” Chicago IL., 1961.

Image 2: Photograph of Survival Supplies for the Well-Stocked Fallout Shelter, about 1961. A demonstration to citizens sponsored, in part, by Civil Defense Personnel and Activities. It was designed to show both what the government was storing public fallout shelters with and demonstrate what all shelters should contain.

Image 3:
Fallout shelter built by Louis Severance adjacent to his home near Akron, Michigan, 1960. This shelter includes a special ventilation and escape hatch, an entrance to his basement, tiny kitchen, running water, sanitary facilities, and a sleeping and living area for a family of four. The shelter cost about $1,000. It has a 10-inch reinforced concrete ceiling with thick earth cover and concrete walls. Severance says, 'Ever since I was convinced what damage H-Bombs can do, I've wanted to build the shelter."

Document 9: John W. Hanes, “Letter to Dr. Franklin E. Kameny,” November 7, 1960.

Dr. Kameny was fired from his position as astronomer at the Army Map Service in 1957 because he was gay. Kameny fought back and appealed his dismissal all the way to the Supreme Court. After the Court declined to hear his case, Kameny founded the Mattachine Society of Washington D.C. in 1961. The Mattachine Society battled anti-gay discrimination in general and the federal government's exclusionary policies in particular. Below is a reply to Dr. Kameny from Hanes, the Department of State Administrator of the Bureau and Consular Affairs.

Dear Dr. Kameny,

It should be perfectly apparent to you, that I am unable to make any reply that will be satisfactory to you. You are equally aware as I of the reasons why the Department of State does not hire homosexuals and will not permit their employment. I am quite prepared to agree that a substantial amount of the reason behind this policy results from the attitude of our society in general toward any behavior which it considers undesirable and which it does not accept. Homosexuality is one such behavior.

So long as this is the attitude of our society, as expressed both formally in laws, and informally in the average reaction of people toward homosexuals, the homosexual is automatically a security risk. This is because of the social and emotional pressures to which he is subject from society, and because of the ever present risk that such pressures can be utilized by hostile elements to coerce him into activities other than those which he would undertake of his own free will. Also because of the prevailing beliefs of our society, the homosexual frequently becomes a disruptive personnel factor within any organization.

The above arguments, are quite sufficient in my judgment, as a basis for our policy toward the employment of homosexuals without even getting into any examination of the psychology, weaknesses or strengths of the individual homosexual himself. I do not intend to change the present policy of the Department of State toward the employment of homosexuals. I must respectfully suggest that I can see no usefulness to a continuation of this correspondence.