American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

American History - Essay Example The author writes in this context as a response to the augments made by these writers and in his view the most important efforts were done by Richard Powers (1994) and Ellen Shrecker. The political and cultural sitting at the time of the writing of the paper includes the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of international communism prompting. The writing of the article was also prompted by the reevaluation of the cold war era in America by different writers prompting the author to present the most important writers. The intended audiences for the article are students, scholars, and the public. The article is aimed at this audience as a measure of augmenting the understanding aspects of cold war era and demonstrating the various issues at play during the time. The article’s thesis is making a combination of two perspectives on anticommunism with the aim of seeking an evaluation of consequences of anticommunism and the mix of responsible and extremist elements. The study’s objective is achieved through an examination of the investigations by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) on the activities undertaken by the Communist Party of Maryland. In summary the article provides the controversies associated with the communism in the writings of Power and Shrecker but makes a point in showing that the two writers had some similarities in their view of the period. The similarity is that the two writers acknowledged that anticommunist protests were waged against mainly members and organizations tied to the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Some of the arguments in the article include the fact that Power’s states the nature of anticommunism as complex, pluralist movement containing elements of responsible, principled, and conspiracy-based extremists1. On the other hand, Shrecker considers McCarthyism as having caused setbacks for labor, restriction of