ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of World War II, the specter of communism loomed large in the American consciousness. The Cold War with the Soviet Union moved communistic sympathies from a matter of domestic political opinion to an issue with dire implications for national security. The entry of the United States into World War II and its alliance with the Soviet Union muted the loudest criticism of communism for the duration of the war. After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, the fear of communism and communistic influences pervaded American society. Both the Congress and state legislatures passed a series of similar laws intended to curb the power of communism and the Communist Party at the federal and state levels throughout the 1950s. Significant efforts to root out communism continued through the 1950s and early 1960s, eventually petering out as the nation's attention turned to other matters.
