American Anti-Communism: Combating the Enemy Within, 1830-1970

by M. J. Heale

Overview

Although the term anticommunism is relatively new, the phenomenon it described has deep historical roots in the United States. Even before publication of the Communist Manifesto, Heale explains, many Americans were already forming an idealized image of their country as a Christain republic of self-reliant white men—hardly fertile ground for Marxist socialism. Heale shows how fears of foreigh ideologies and suspicion on nineteenth-century immigrant groupds healped shake American anticommunism during the age of industrialization. He then examines the period from the 1930s to the 1960s, when class conflict abated but politicians and bureasucrats had their own reasons for embracing a zealous anticommunism.

Heale concluded tha American anticommunism is not only more deep-rooted but also more rational than is often though. Hard-headed calculatoons about radicals at home and communist successes abroad were closer to the heart of red scare politics than mindless hysteria. It was the misfortune of the American Left, he argues, that it not only was linked to international revolution but also was large enough t obe noticed yet small enough to be crushed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801840517
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	10/01/1990
Series:	The American Moment
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.57(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael Heale is reader in history at the University of Lancaster, England.

Table of Contents

Editor's Foreword
Preface
Part I. The Red Menace in Industrial America
Chapter 1. An Ambiguous Legacy (1830-1870)
Chapter 2. The Specter Emerges (1870-1900)
Chapter 3. The Antianarchist Offensive (1900-1918)
Chapter 4. The Big Red Scare (1918-1920)
Chapter 5. One Hundred Percent Americanism (1920-1929)
Part II. The Red Menace in Global America
Chapter 6. The Red Menace Reaches Washington (1929-1938)
Chapter 7. From Popular Front to Communist Front (1938-1948)
Chapter 8. The Republican Offensive (1948-1952)
Chapter 9. The Anticommunist Consensus (the1950s)
Chapter 10. The Ebbing of Anticommunism?
Bibliographical Essay
Index

Editorial Reviews

This succinct and sensible history shows how fear of 'Reds' was linked in the nineteenth century to the destabilizing impact of industrialization and in the twentieth century to perceptions of global insecurity. An excellent concluding chapter explains the fading of anticommunism since the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
—Foreign Affairs

Fair-minded and dispassionate . . . Ends with a detailed bibliographic essay which is a thorough and valuable addition to the literature for those studying the movement of ideas in American life. Graduate students casting about for a dissertation topic could well find the essay a rewarding exercise.
—International Affairs

From the Publisher

Heale (history, U. of Lancaster, England) shows how fears of foreign ideologies and suspicion of 19th-century immigrant groups helped shape American communism during the age of industrialization. He then examines the period from the 1930s to the 1960s, when class conflict abated but politicians and bureaucrats had their own reasons for embracing a zealous anti-communism. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Fair-minded and dispassionate . . . Ends with a detailed bibliographic essay which is a thorough and valuable addition to the literature for those studying the movement of ideas in American life. Graduate students casting about for a dissertation topic could well find the essay a rewarding exercise.

International Affairs

This succinct and sensible history shows how fear of 'Reds' was linked in the nineteenth century to the destabilizing impact of industrialization and in the twentieth century to perceptions of global insecurity. An excellent concluding chapter explains the fading of anticommunism since the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Foreign Affairs